I Never Asked For This
by witchinmoonlight
Summary: After hearing a false rumor that Percy committed a heinous crime, Athena challenges him to a duel, seeking to kill him. If he doesn't face her, she'll destroy Camp Half-Blood. And that's only one of Annabeth's many problems. Disaster strikes, the camp is defenseless, and time is running out. How will Annabeth cope with the pressure? (Credit for the image goes to AireensColor.)
1. My Boyfriend is Blamed For A False Crime

I got up from the bed. My fatigue had disappeared, at least, for the moment. I had to admit, the Poseidon cabin interior was very well painted and decorated. I looked at myself in the mirror. For a brief moment, I saw a 12 year old version of myself, but it soon disappeared in the blink of an eye. I was 22 years old now, as was Percy. The other five demigods who were part of the Prophecy of Seven were in their twenties. My head started to ache. Not again, I thought. I had known Percy for ten years, dated him for six, and...

"Annabeth?" a voice asked.

I saw Chiron there. He was in his wheelchair. Everyone knew that Chiron was really a centaur and his wheelchair fooled others into thinking that he was a human.

"Oh hello Chiron." I said.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." I answered.

"Are you sure?" he responded. "You've been acting rather strangely since yesterday."

"I said I'm fine. Please, just leave me alone." I said.

"Remember Annabeth, if there's anything that's troubling you, you can tell me about it." Chiron said, before rolling himself away in his wheelchair.

In reality, I wasn't fine. Nothing was alright. I couldn't tell anyone what troubled me. I got out the small box underneath my pillow. I looked at the test again. I remember the results after seeing it. I creaked open the door of the showers. We were here visiting Camp Half Blood after not having stepped foot in this haven for years. Percy stood outside the showers with his foot against the wall. I sighed and exited the bathroom.

"Well, what's the result?" he asked.

I knew he was going to ask me that. Why did I feel nervous?

"I'm pregnant." I answered.

"Now what are we going to do?" he asked. "When your mother finds out, she'll..."

"I'll what?" said a voice behind them. They turned around. Percy gasped as I widened my eyes in shock.

"Mother?" I asked.

"Athena?" Percy gulped again.

Percy gulped. He had every right to be worried. My mother, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was not pleased. Her hair was black and wavy. She stood wearing a blue chemise dress where her feet couldn't be seen. She wore a black thread and purple ribbon charm bracelet around her left wrist. Her eyes were grey and full of anger.

"Uh, how long have you been standing there?" Percy asked.

"Long enough." Athena answered. "I can't believe you had the nerve to do something so... despicable and reckless!" She grabbed him by the collar and threw him onto the ground a few feet away from us.

"What was that for?!" Percy asked.

"Don't play dumb, young man. I know that you raped her, and now look what's happened!"

"What?!" we both asked in unison.

Athena threw him against the wall of the showers.

"I never raped her! I would never do that!" Percy exclaimed. "What makes you think that I would ever commit such a crime?"

"I knew you were trouble Perseus Jackson!" Athena yelled, grabbing him by the collar.

"Mother, stop it!" I yelled. She turned towards me. "Percy never molested me. You're the goddess of wisdom, and the Greek/Roman god personality disorder was cured long ago. Why would you be jumping to irrational conclusions?"

"I did not jump to a conclusion." she answered. "Someone told me this. Now confess to the truth, and I might just let you live."

"I never did anything." Percy calmly stated.

"Fine then." Athena stated. "Meet me on the roof of the One World Observatory at sunset. If you don't show up, I'll find you, burn you, and bring trouble to everyone in this camp who is not descended down from me. The other cabins will burn and this area will be destroyed first!"

Then she disappeared. Percy was stunned.

"Percy, I..." I tried to say, sounding all choked up.

"I gotta go." he said.

He dived into the lake and he never came back up. Since he was a son of Poseidon, and therefore, could breathe underwater, it was impossible for him to drown. So the real question is where did he go, and when will he return? I was glad that Percy was the only resident here, as I didn't think I would fit in the Athena cabin. Mother probably told my half-siblings what she thinks happened. And those events occurred yesterday. Tonight, Percy was going to face her on the roof of one of New York City's tallest buildings in an area with no water for him to use his hydrokinesis powers. This was very very bad.

"Annabeth?" Malcolm asked.

Malcolm Pace was my half-brother and head of the Athena cabin when I wasn't around.

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you with our fellow demigods?" he asked.

"Did Chiron tell you I was here?" I asked.

"No, but still, why are you here?" Malcolm asked. "Is it because you miss Percy?"

"You could say that." I said. "He left and he never told me where he was going."

"Why don't you Iris-message him?" Malcolm asked.

"To be honest, I hadn't even thought about that at all." I said. I created a rainbow and tossed in a golden drachma from the fountain. "Oh goddess, Iris, accept my offering." I stayed silent for a few seconds. "Show me Percy Jackson."

An image of Tyson formed in the rainbow. He was in the Forges of the Cyclopes.

"Oh, Annabeth! I haven't heard from you in ages." Tyson said.

"Where's Percy?" I asked.

"He's with daddy asking him for advice." Tyson answered. "I heard he has to fight Athena. Don't know why..."

"Is Percy in the Palace of Poseidon?" Malcolm asked.

"Last I looked, which was about 30 minutes ago, Percy was training to fight Athena." Tyson said. "Do you want me to try and find him?"

"If possible, yes." I answered. Then a paper wad was thrown at his head.

"What's this?" Tyson asked. He picked it up. "'If Percy's lady is asking you where he is, he just left. Now get back to work!' I guess he left. I gotta go before the boss blows a fuse." The cyclops waved his hand through the rainbow, cutting off the connection.

"What time is it, Malcolm?" I asked.

"It's ten til two," he answered.

I looked at the window. The sun would set completely by 6pm.

"We don't have much time." I said.

"I don't think you could stop a fight between Percy and our mother." Malcolm said.

"I know," I answered, turning away from the window and looking back at him. "And that's what worries me. Even if Percy survives, what will happen afterwards?"

"I wish I could tell you, Annabeth." Malcolm said.

He walked away, leaving me in despair. There were very few campers due to it being late fall (and soon to turn to winter), but even then, I didn't want to see anyone unless it was Percy or my mom. I knew it seemed hopeless, but I wanted to believe that I could talk her out of this fight. I knew it was a long shot. I'd probably just get the power from my Yankees Cap taken away again. That only happened once after I got into an argument with my mother in her Roman goddess form, Minerva. She wanted me to leave Percy to die because he was with the Romans. Now Athena wanted him dead again, albeit for a different reason. I got out the Yankees Cap and put it on. So the magic wasn't gone. I stepped out of the Poseidon cabin and saw a small bit of snow fall past the borders of Camp Half Blood. I felt terrible. Percy was about to fight my mother and I was powerless to stop it.

"What am I do to?" I asked myself.


	2. We Find a Dead Dragon

I was taken by surprise when I heard the sound of wings in the air. I recognized that sound anywhere. It was Festus the dragon! That means Leo must be here! I looked to the sky and saw not only Leo Valez, but also Calypso Angelis, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang. Calypso didn't really have a last name (due to her formerly being a Titan), so she adopted the surname of Angelis. The mechanical dragon landed on the ground. Jason flew down using his power over the wind. Everyone else used one of the dragon's metal wings and climbed down.

"Ah, it feels good to be back at my former stomping grounds." Piper said.

Leo looked around the camp. "There aren't too many people here." he said.

"I wonder where Annabeth is." Frank commented.

"Probably cuddling with Percy somewhere in the lake." Hazel suggested.

I wish that was true. I needed him to comfort me. He was the only one who really knew the truth. If I couldn't talk to him, my half-siblings, or my cousin, maybe I could talk to these guys. I took off my invisibility cap and walked up to them.

"Good guess, but not quite." I answered.

"Annabeth! So good to see you!" Piper said. She gave me a bear hug.

"I can't... breathe..." I muttered.

"Oh sorry." she said, letting go.

"Where's Percy?" Frank asked.

"I'm not sure..." I answered.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Calypso asked. "Didn't he tell you where he was going?"

"Not really, no." I answered.

"What's wrong?" Hazel asked. "You look troubled."

"Tell us what's wrong." Frank commanded.

"Don't force her, Frank." Piper said. "Annabeth, if there's anything you want to talk to us about, you can tell us. If not, then I understand." She turned to Frank. "I'm not going to Charmspeak the truth out of her."

I sighed and asked, "My fellow demigods and former Titaness, can I confide in you?"

"You can us anything." Calypso answered.

"We don't tell a soul, living, dead or resurrected." Hazel said.

"Ok, in a nutshell, here's the problem." I began. "About one month ago, me and Percy were at Lake Half-Blood. It was a nice, starry autumn night where the moon could be seen. All was calm that night."

I described the scene to them. Me and Percy had gotten changed into our bathing suits. We left our normal clothes, including my Yankees Cap, on the dock. Percy was wearing blue swim trunks, while I was wearing a purple bikini with a dark blue floral pattern. At first, we were just splashing around and having a good time. Then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I thought I saw a beam of light reflecting from a stopwatch. I dived down under the water. I found nothing. Percy saw me.

"Saw something that caught your eye, Wise Girl?" he asked me.

"It was nothing." I lied.

Soon we were kissing, embracing each other, being partially soaked and partially dry all at the same. Before I knew it, we were getting to... making love. (I know that's scandalous. No need to tell me.) As far as I could tell, there were no witnesses around. No spirits, animals, monsters, humans, demigods or deities. Poseidon might have known about it, but if he did, I don't think he'd be telling others about his son's affairs.

"You guys had sex?! Before marriage I might add?!" Piper gasped in shock.

"So... why didn't you try to talk him out of it?" Jason asked.

"I...I don't know... I knew it was a bad idea, but..." I sighed. "I don't know."

"Are you sure there were no witnesses?" Leo asked.

"Pretty sure." I answered. "And can we stick to the topic please?"

"Sorry." Leo said.

"Yesterday at about 4pm, my mother Athena showed up and tried to maim Percy. She accused him of trying to rape me, which is obviously false, and nearly killed him. She challenged him to a duel at sunset tonight. They're supposed to duel at 6pm on the roof of the One World Observatory."

"Why can't Percy just back out?" Jason said.

"If he refuses to face her, she'll find him and destroy most of Camp Half-Blood in the process..." I answered.

"That's bad." Frank said.

"Very bad." I said. "And I'm not even done with the bad news yet."

"Oi vey." Frank commented. "What else is there?"

"Under different circumstances, this would be good news. At this moment, not really very good at all." I answered. "I'm pregnant."

Jason, Leo, Frank, Hazel and Calypso gasped. Piper was not surprised.

"That... is not good..." Jason said.

"Uh, why exactly is that bad?" Frank asked.

Piper put her hand to her forehead and sighed deeply. "Think about it, pie for brains." she said, removing her hand and looking at Frank. "She's already suffering from emotional distress. If Percy dies, she'll have to raise the child on her own or give him up. And, last I looked, you guys aren't married yet."

"That is true," I answered. "And what I really don't get is how did Athena find out in the first place? Who told her that me and Percy were doing the deed?!" I sighed. "I don't want to tempt the Fates by saying this, but, could this get any worse?"

Suddenly the barrier around Camp Half Blood vanished.

"We've got a problem! A big, big problem!" someone screamed.

"The fleece has been stolen!" someone else cried out.

"What?!" we all exclaimed in unison.

We ran to Thalia's tree. Or rather, most of us ran. Frank was nice enough to let me hitch a ride on his back in the form of a horse. The dragon guarding the Golden Fleece, named Peleus, was lying on the floor, bleeding heavily. He was dead. We gasped in terror.

"Oh no..." Chiron said. "This is bad."

"Oh Gods, this is awful..." I said. "I spoke too soon."

"Without the Golden Fleece, how are we going to protect Camp Half-Bloods borders?" Piper asked.

"Things just went from bad to worse to way worse." Leo added.

"What are we going to do?" asked one of the campers.

I got off of Frank and tried to conjure what little courage I had left. Frank turned back into a human shortly I got off of him. I looked at the campers.

"First off, we can not let this get to us." I said. "If the Fleece can not guard the camp, then we must guard it. We'll need to have at least four people patrolling the borders of this camp day and night. With the small number of campers here, it will be a difficult task, but it must be done. Sherman Yang, take at least three of your half-siblings and take the first shift. Guard the camp for four hours. Lou Ellen, you and your half-sisters take the post after the Ares' Cabin is done patrolling. I'll create a chart on who guards the camp for which day. Now Ares' cabin, go forth!"

Sherman's half-siblings ran off to guard the borders. Sherman himself stayed at the border. I turned to Frank.

"You think there will be a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece?" he asked.

"I don't know." I answered. "Frank, I need you to go to the lake, turn into an aquatic animal and search the lake for anything that might give us a clue to who did this."

"Right away." he said. He turned into a raven and flew off.

"Annabeth, what are you thinking?" Calypso asked.

"I think that whoever stole the Golden Fleece may have been the one to lie to my mother." I said to the rest of them.


	3. Frank Finds An Ancient Arrow

"You think the same person who spoke to Athena about you and Percy is the same person who stole the Golden Fleece?" Leo asked.

"Yes, I do. I don't think that this is just a mere coincidence." I answered. "Now, I'll need to create a list of campers and a list telling everyone who guards the camp at what time."

I worked for about 30 minutes and soon both lists were done. I needed the first list with the names of all the campers to create the second one. After that, I sat in the Big House lounge with my friends. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.

"Piper, where did you get that ring?" I asked.

"Oh, this?" she said, referring to the gold band with a pink diamond on it. "It's an engagement ring. Jason proposed to me. I meant to tell you this earlier, but then there was this whole Athena vs Percy duel, the Golden Fleece being stolen and everything else."

"Is anyone else engaged?" I asked.

"Nope." Leo said. Calypso nodded in agreement with him.

"I haven't found a ring yet." Frank said. "At this rate, Hazel will find a ring and purpose to me before I get the chance to."

Hazel chuckled. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, Miss Metal Detector, with your power over earth and summoning precious metals, I'm sure you could find a ring easily." Calypso answered.

"I guess you have a point there." she replied.

"I know you guys aren't married, but, did Percy ever propose to you?" Jason asked.

"Sadly, no." I answered. "Things don't look good. Percy's about to be killed and there's nothing I can do to help him."

"You can't give up, Annabeth. There's got to be a way." Calypso said.

"But how?" I asked.

Then Frank walked in, carrying in a few items.

"I found these in the Lake." he said.

He had an arrow and the silver stopwatch I recalled seeing on that night. I looked at the clock on the watch. It had Roman Numerals on it.

"That stopwatch looks familiar." I said, holding it in my hands. Suddenly I felt a strong cold chill.

"Is something wrong?" Piper asks.

"I think there's some kind of negative energy infused into the stopwatch." I said.

"Let me see it." Hazel said, taking the stopwatch from me. "You're right."

"And what about the arrow?" Leo asked.

"It looks like an arrow similar to what the Hunters of Artemis use." Jason said.

"Hunters of Artemis? But they're supposed to be the good guys! Loyal to their Lady until the end of their days!" Leo exclaimed.

"Perhaps Thalia might be able to shed some light on the situation." I suggested.

Jason created a rainbow from a prism of light and tossed a Golden drachma. "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Thalia Grace." he said.

The image of Thalia appeared. She had been sleeping alone in a tent. She was sleeping on her left side so we couldn't see her face.

"Thalia? Are you awake?" Piper asked in a soft voice.

"Partially, yes." she answered. She turned her face to us. "Hello Jason and others. So what's new?"

"We found this arrow in Lake Half-Blood." Frank said, showing it to Thalia. "Do you know anything about it?"

"Hmm. I have never seen that particular arrow before." she said.

"Thalia, we're... Oh, I didn't realize you were speaking to your brother or your friends." Artemis said.

Artemis appeared in the form of a twenty year old woman. No matter how old she appeared to be, Artemis always maintained her beauty and grace in every form. Her hair was black and pulled into a ponytail. Her eyes were blue and she wore a white sleeveless dress reaching her feet. On the straps of the dress, a crescent moon pin could be seen on each side.

"Hello Artemis. Do you need Thalia for something?" Jason asked.

"We were about to relocate our camp. Why?" she asked.

"We're trying to figure out if Thalia knew anything about this arrow." I said, holding it in my hands.

"That arrow used to belong to a fallen hunter." Artemis said.

"A fallen hunter?" Jason asked.

"Her name was Sandya." the goddess answered. "Thousands of years ago, after the First Giant War, she accidentally stumbled upon our camp, which was located on the outskirts of Venice, Italy. She claimed that she had been wandering through the woods, looking for a new home because her mother was killed. I asked her if she wanted to be a part of the Hunters of Artemis and she accepted the offer. She quickly rose through the ranks and became the lieutenant within only three months. Sandya was one of the best lieutenants to ever lead the Hunters, but she met a terrible demise. After a pack of Hellhounds got loose in Spain, the Hunters were divided against themselves. I was spending time with my brother Apollo in Rome at this time, so I had no idea what was going on until it was too late. Sandya didn't care about stopping the Hellhounds from wrecking havoc, but a group of twenty hunters went to Spain without telling her. She followed them there, believing that they should have been punished for leaving without permission. During this chaos, most of those hunters, and Sandya herself, were killed by the Hellhounds. There were 75 Hellhounds defeated, and only one hunter lived to tell the tale. That arrow you have was one that was mostly likely used to kill one of the many Hellhounds."

"Thank you, Artemis." I said.

"We best be going." Thalia said.

She waved her hand through the rainbow, cutting off the connection. I looked at my notes. Nothing made any sense.

"This doesn't make sense." I said. "If Sandya died thousands of years ago, how did her arrow end up in the lake?"

"Maybe she never really died." Hazel suggested.

"She could have faked her death." Leo answered.

"I would say that, but if that was true, she would most likely still be alive to this day. How would she have been hidden from the eyes of the gods and other immortal deities for all those years?" I asked.

My friends shrugged. We had no idea who spied on me and Percy in the lake, who stole the Golden Fleece and killed Peleus. We didn't even know if they were both the same person. Then I remembered the upcoming duel between Athena and Percy. The thought of losing Percy made me cry. A few hours later, we stood on the rooftop of a building in Manhattan. We all had flying shoes on so that we could see the duel. Even Frank, who could transform into any animal that ever existed.

"45 minutes til Doomsday for Percy Jackson." Frank said.

"Not good..." Leo commented.

"You guys are not helping." Piper said.

Jason looked at the clouds. He created a bolt of lighting in his hands and shot it upward. Then it started to rain.

"Maybe it'll help Percy." he said.

"We better make our way to the Observatory." I said.

"If Athena sees us coming, she'll probably knock us out of the sky." Jason said.

"Then we better start walking." I said.

The rain Jason conjured started out as a sprinkle, then a drizzle and as time when on, the rain got harder and harder. We noticed that New York City wasn't as busy with people as it usually was. It wasn't like the Battle of Manhattan where nearly all of the human residents were asleep, but it was still strange.

"Where is everyone?" Piper asked.

"I don't know..." Leo answered.

"There's no one else in sight." Jason said.

"That's not true. Look over there!" Calypso said.

We saw a teenage girl in a red hooded jacket carrying a cellphone. Demigods were advised not to use technology due to it attracting monsters, so she was probably a normal girl. She wore jean shorts and blue sneakers. She heard us and put her cellphone away.

"Is there a problem?" the girl asked, walking up to us.

"No, it's just... New York City is so crowded. Where is everyone?" I asked.

"It's raining, the One World Observatory is closed for maintenance, so what would you expect?" the girl asked.

"Wait, hold up. Did you say the One World Observatory is closed?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. It's on the news and on their website. Are you guys living under a rock?" she asked.

Frank approached her, but Hazel grabbed his wrist. "Calm down, Frank." she ordered.

I looked into the girl's eyes. They were hazel brown, yet for a moment, I saw a flash of gold. Were my eyes playing tricks on me?

"Who...who are you?" I asked.

"My name's Sandy." the girl answered. "I better get going. I have a date with destiny."

She then walked away, leaving us there.

"Is it just me, or does something seem strange about her?" Hazel asked.

"That's what I thought..." I answered.

"We got bigger things to worry about." Jason reminded us. "Remember, the duel?"

"Yeah, right. We gotta move!" I exclaimed.

We ran to the One World Observatory. Just as Sandy told us, the place was closed. It was ten minutes before the duel. I could see my mother all the way from up there. And she was very angry. I checked my watch. 5:50pm. Ten minutes til the Clash of the Century.

"Where's Percy?" I asked.

"Is he not coming?" Leo asked.


	4. We Witness the Clash of the Century

"So you're here to see the duel as well, huh?" a voice asked.

We around and saw Ares. He was in the form of a seventeen year old boy with black greased filled hair and sunglasses over his eyes. He wore black leather pants and a jacket over a red shirt with a skull and crossbones symbol on it. He wore black combat boots and stood at about six feet tall.

"Dad?" Frank asked.

"Lord Ares, what are you doing here?" Piper asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "I'm here to watch the duel between Athena and Percy in person."

"In person?" Leo asked.

"Didn't anyone tell you that this fight is being broadcasted on Hephaestus TV? Gods, demigods and others will all be watching this battle. People are even placing bets on who will win." Ares explained. "Hades believes that Percy will win, while Khione believes that Percy will die."

"Didn't she get her powers taken away after the Second Giant War?" Leo asked.

"Not exactly. Khione's brothers, Zethes and Calais had their immortality and powers revoked and were forced to serve the Kings of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. I don't know what ever happened to them afterwards. Khione however, did not suffer the same fate." Ares answered. "Khione had to be a servant/teacher to some ice magician in this very city. I don't really know all the details, but she had to serve and teach him for many years. She was under very strict rules and would have been punished more severely if she broke them. About three months ago, after she finished her service, she had to swear on the River Styx to never deliberately hunt down or kill the members of the Argo II crew."

"That would explain a lot." Leo said.

I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I saw a pegasus in the sky. And it wasn't just any pegasus. It was Blackjack. Percy stood at the top of the One World Observatory. Athena had been waiting forever.

"Maia!" we all shouted, activating the wings on our shoes. We flew into the sky and Ares turned into a raven so that he could see from a bird's eye view.

"It's about time you showed up." Athena said.

"I don't know what has gotten into you, and I don't want to fight you, but I see that I have no choice." Percy said. He got out Riptide and turned it from a pen to its sword form. My mother conjured a spear from thin air. "If you think I'm evil, then come and get me."

She charged towards Percy with a deadly rage empowering her. Percy dodged her every move. He had fought against many opponents before, but I was still worried that he was going to be killed. Athena threw her spear at him, which made him back-flip. He got close to edge and nearly fell but he regained his balance and glared at his opponent. He forced the rain to crash down harder on Athena. This blinded her briefly, but she used the rain to create a tripping hazard for Percy. He fell right on his butt and Athena slashed his arm with her spear. She tried to impale him by stabbing his throat, but that failed and cut his arm instead. He kicked the spear into the air and used the water that tripped him to break it. He slowly got up as she gasped. Athena did not expect this to happen.

"Give it up, you incubus!" Athena screamed.

I'm not even sure Percy knew what that meant, but he was pretty offended. He stabbed Athena right in the chest with his blade. She screamed loudly in agony. I looked away. This was just too much to bear.

"If you claim that you're not evil, why do you continue to fight me?!" Athena asked.

"You threatened to destroy Camp Half-Blood!" Percy answered angrily. I opened my eyes. "For several years, that was my home away from home! That was Annabeth's only home for nearly a decade! I don't know what anger has consumed your heart, what insanity has poisoned your mind, or even who told you of that terribly false crime, but hear my words." She threw arrows at Percy, who dodged them all. "I'm not evil. I never molested Annabeth. I never hurt her." Athena disarmed him with only a wave of her hand. Then she summoned another spear. "I love her." She dropped Riptide.

"What is he doing?" Frank asked.

"When Annabeth was kidnapped by the Manticore, I risked everything to save her. When I lost my memory, Annabeth was the only thing I clearly remembered. When Annabeth was defenseless in Tartarus, I defended her. I gave up immortality to be with Annabeth because I love her. And yet you call me the bad guy." Percy stated. "I know you've never approved of our relationship, especially because I'm the son of Poseidon, who is your rival, but this is taking it all too far! So whatever vendetta you have against me, just let it go!"

My mother stopped dead in her tracks. She widened her eyes and dropped her second spear.

"I..." she began to say. Then her eyes turned back into an intense glare. "Don't believe you, Perseus Jackson."

"What?!" Leo yelled.

Athena turned in our direction. "So it seems we have some spectators." she said.

She disarmed almost all of us. But for someone reason, my knife wasn't taken by her. Using Jason's gladius, Piper's sword Katoptris, Hazel's Spatha, the 20 or so arrows Frank was carrying, and Ares' Sword, she fired all of those weapons at Percy. He ducked and avoided most of them, but some of the arrows hit both of Percy's legs. He screamed in pain. He tried to stand up, but he fell back down. Lightning continued to crack across the sky. Athena held up her spear to the sky and it suddenly was charged with the power of a lightning bolt. Without even thinking about it, I started flying down to the rooftop.

"Annabeth, what are you doing?!" Frank asked. "Annabeth!"

"Say goodnight, Perseus Jackson!" Athena exclaimed, projecting the lighting in the spear towards him.

Lighting was racing towards him and if nothing was done, Percy was bound to be killed. Then I did something extremely dangerous and stupid. I threw my sword forth, which countered the lightning and sent it flying in every which direction. The lighting nearly hit us, but it didn't.

"Stop!" I exclaimed. Percy looked up at me as I glared at my mother. "This has gone on long enough!"

"Annabeth, why are you here?!" Athena asked.

"I can't let you do this! I won't let you hurt him!" I exclaimed. "Your vendetta against him must end now!"

Athena didn't listen. She tried to impale Percy with a spear, but I kicked it out of her hands. Me and my mother dueled with our swords.

"Don't force me to hurt you!" I exclaimed.

"You insolent fool!" she screamed. She threw a knife at me and then I saw a flash of gold in her stormy eyes. I gasped.

"Annabeth, what's wrong?" Jason asked.

"Annabeth?" Piper repeated.

Then I heard a crack. Somebody broke the camera broadcasting Athena and Percy's fight. Ares gave each weapon back to their respective owners. Then he subdued Athena.

"My mother...has lost her sanity." I answered.

 _And I fear that I'm losing mine._


	5. Piper Makes An Artic Accusation

Ares took Athena away, leaving us in confusion. I held Percy in my arms as he tried to heal himself from the rain, which unfortunately, began to diminish.

"Ok, who in Hades is responsible for this... framing?!" Percy asked. "I want to blame Mr. D, but something tells me that it isn't him."

"Mr. D? As in Dionysus? Unlikely." Leo said.

"I know he's never really cared too much about the demigods at Camp Half-Blood, or demigods in general other than his own children, but Dionysus is not evil. He wouldn't cause my mother to go insane." I said. "Also, his punishment was revoked years ago."

"Then whoever did this most likely wanted Percy dead." Frank said.

"Or just wanted to cause some trouble." Leo said.

"What about Khione?" Piper asked.

"I thought Ares told us that she swore on the River Styx not to kill us or hunt us down." Hazel reminded us.

"That is true. But don't you remember what she had done? She has an ability similar to Piper's Charmspeak. She caused Mount Olympus to close down, Aelous to turn on us, and even the destruction of Festus. If she whispered into Athena's ear, she would have us destroyed without doing it herself." Jason said. "Athena was not being swayed by a simple Charmspeak command. I think someone's controlling her and that someone has to be Khione."

"It's a logical explanation." I said. "But that doesn't explain the arrow that used to belong to Sandya, the silver stopwatch, or the Golden Fleece being stolen."

"The Golden Fleece was stolen?!" Percy asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Piper answered. "The dragon guardian Peleus was killed. Annabeth believes that the same person who told the lie to Athena was the same person who stole the Fleece."

"But Peleus had bled to death. One would think Khione would freeze him to death or turn him into an ice sculpture. If Khione really was the one to lie to Athena about Percy raping Annabeth, which we all know is false, then why would she take the Fleece? What would Khione want with the Fleece?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. Nobody really does." Frank answered.

"But all the signs point to Khione." Jason mentioned.

"So many questions without answers..." Calypso said.

"Either way, Khione is going down." I declared. Percy groaned and fainted. "Maia!" I exclaimed reactivating the wings on my shoes.

I flew down to the beach and approached the coastline. I stepped into the water and let Percy go. I hoped that Percy could still recover from his injures. I soon noticed that my friends had followed me.

"Will he be okay? Calypso asked.

"I hope so." I answered. "My mother really hurt him back there."

The cuts on Percy's legs vanished. Soon he woke up, gasping for air.

"Ow... my head..." he mumbled.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"You saved my life again, Wise Girl." he said. He slowly stood up and I threw my arms around him. "It's alright. I'll be okay."

After Percy was healed, we out to eat at a Chinese restaurant and went back to Camp Half-Blood. We put our flying shoes away and got back into our normal kicks. The eight of us were over by the lake. The moon had risen and the air was cold.

"Oh, there's something I wanted to give to all of you, now that you're here." Leo said. He got out a box and gave each of us a bracelet. The bracelet was made from black silk and had a silver peace charm on it. "The reason why I'm giving you these seemingly ordinary bracelets requires some explanation. You all know how monsters hunt down demigods and that's how most of them get killed, right? Well, thanks to Leo Valdez, aka, me, and my partner in crime Hazel Levesque, we have invented a solution to that problem. Monsters can "stiff out" demigods because of the aura that surrounds them. Well these bracelets are designed to hide a demigods aura and make it resemble that of a human being, making monster attraction nearly impossible."

"These bracelets are magically enchanted to return to the owner if they are ever lost, and if anyone tries to steal it, they will feel pain in their hands and or fingers." Hazel said. "Jason, put on your bracelet." He did as he was told. "Frank, try to grab Jason's bracelet and see what happens."

Frank extended his arm and tried to grab Jason's bracelet. He started screaming.

"That thing just shocked me!" Frank exclaimed.

"The bracelet will fight back with some kind of attack, depending on the power of the wearer. Not enough to cause real damage, but enough to make the thief think twice before attempting to steal. Leo's bite back would be a burning feeling. My bite back is the feeling of the thief's hands being crushed. It varies from bracelet to bracelet." Hazel added.

"We have done multiple safety tests. We had our test subjects, who were well aware of any and all risks, test out of the effects if you're a demigod child of the Big Three, using technology, especially for long periods of time. No matter what you do, or how powerful you are, monsters won't find you with this bracelet. It took us nearly three years to perfect the bracelet, because magic alone is not enough to stop monsters from finding demigods. I want to sell them, but we don't have enough to keep up the demand. Guaranteed to keep monsters away or your money back guaranteed." Leo said.

"But you gave these to us for free." Jason said.

"In that case, you can punch me if they fail." he said. "Even though I doubt monsters would hunt her, I even made one for Calypso as well."

"Alright, thanks Leo and Hazel." I said.

"Thanks Leo and Hazel." everyone said.

"You're welcome." they said in unison.

We agreed that we would start searching for Khione at sunrise tomorrow. We went back to our respective cabins and went to bed. Well, I went back to the Poseidon cabin, as I still felt distant from my mother and my maternal half-siblings. Percy immediately crashed on the bottom bunk on the left side. I sat down on the bed across from Percy. I put on my Yankees Cap. It still had its power, much to my surprise. I looked at my bracelet and wondered what my backbite would be. If only we could call on Grover. But he was with his wife Juniper raising their daughter, Lily. Same for Coach Hedge with his wife Mellie and his son, Chuck.

I saw Khione roaming a barren tundra. She wore a white dress with blue snowflakes on it. Her eyes were blue and cold as snow. Her hair was black with streaks of white in it. She wore a silver tiara with a star on it on her head. She appeared lonely, and maybe even sad.

"My brothers are still in exile and serving foreign kings. Had Russia not had that Revolution in 1905, they might be here instead of in the harsh hot climate of the Middle East. Had the Giants won that war, this wouldn't be happening..." she said to herself. "I can't go down to the Underworld, yet I am banished from Mount Olympus. There is no place for me aside from this barren tundra. Either this or Alaska."

She glowed with white energy and her eyes glowed a light blue. Khione was in her divine form. She continued walking forward into the cold unknown. A man came across her, and he fell to the ground upon seeing her. A god's divine form would normally melt snow and burn a mortals essence, but since Khione was the goddess of ice and snow, it was the opposite. The snow on the ground got thicker and the poor man must have had his soul frozen and was killed as a result. She smirked, changed back into her previous form and laughed. Then I woke up, gasping for air. Leo gave cellphones (to those of us who didn't have them) with international coverage and he agreed to pay the first month of service. As we ate breakfast, I told the others about last next's dream.

"She's in Russia?!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Pipe down, Hazel." Frank ordered. Hazel sighed and continued drinking her latte.

"It'll take forever to find her. Russia's like the biggest country in the world." Jason said, eating a toasted bagel.

"Well, look on the bright side," Leo said. "It's better than having to search the entire world."

"Now the real question is how do we travel while hunting her down?" Jason asked, eating some bacon.

"I would suggest riding Festus, but Khione froze his wires during our quest to save Hera, and she may try to do the same thing again." Piper answered. She took a bite out of her croissant.

"Flying by plane is a big no-no for Percy unless it's absolutely necessary." I reminded the group.

"Blackjack and Arion wouldn't be able to transport all eight of us." Calypso said.

"Traveling by boat would take a long time..." Hazel mentioned.

"What about shadow travel?" Percy asked, looking at Hazel.

"It might be exhausting, but if we want to be fast and discreet, it might be our only option." Hazel said.

"Then let's do it." I said.

After we ate, we gathered our winter gear and went into the woods. We all joined hands and soon we were traveling, spinning through darkness, and before I knew it, we were on the outskirts of a city in Russia. Judging by the sign, we were close to Novokuznetsk. It was dark in this time zone of Russia, and I could see lights in the distance. Hazel was lying on the ground, partially conscious.

"Hazel, are you alright?" Frank asked.

"I...think so." she answered weakly.

"You should rest." Piper said. "You look exhausted."

"What about the mission?" Hazel asked. "Won't you guys need my help when we fight Khione?"

"That could be hours from now." I said. "She could be anywhere." Hazel let herself slip into unconsciousness. "Alright, we got a lot of territory to cover. I suggest we split up into groups of four. Frank, take your unconscious girlfriend, Leo and Calypso and search the east side of Russia. Me, Percy, Jason and Piper shall take the west. Good luck."

Frank and his squadron started walking eastward, leaving us to the west.


	6. Who Has it Worse? Team Leo or Team Me?

We traveled westward, looking for Khione. I was rather nervous since Leo was with the other group, as he was the only one who could take on Khione without the risk of being frozen. Maybe it was a bad idea to split the groups, but it had been who knows how long since we started searching the tundra for the crazed ice goddess. There was no way my group could find Leo and the others. If Hazel ever woke up, her group would have to be the one to find us. We were roaming a forest in Russia.

"Wait. We've already been here before." Piper said.

"We have?" I asked.

"Yeah." I said. "Every time we've passed that tree," she said, pointing to a tree with two slashes in it. "I've marked a diagonal line for every time we've passed that tree."

"She's right. We've been going in circles." Jason said.

"I don't get it." I said. "How can this be?"

"Not only that, our ticket out of this tundra is who knows where and so is the only one who has a fighting chance against Khione! Great idea to split up the group, Annabeth!" Jason sarcastically remarked.

"Calm down, Jason. I'm sure the others are having just as much difficultly as we are." Piper said. "Hazel's out-cold and Calypso has very little fighting skills."

"Maybe we should call them and see how they're doing." Percy suggested.

He got out his smartphone and dialed Frank's number to video-chat with him. We gathered around him so we could see Frank and the others.

"Frank?" Percy asked.

"Oh hi guys." he said. "Having any luck?"

"No." Percy answered. "Jason and Piper realized that we've been going around in circles."

"How are you guys doing?" I asked.

"Not so well." Frank admitted.

"We were attacked by wolves. Not werewolves or other monsters, just normal wolves." Leo said.

"You would think that compared to everything else, that wouldn't be a problem, right? Wrong." Frank answered. "Since my arrows were completely Celestial Bronze, my arrows couldn't do any real damage to them. Hazel's spatha had no effect on them either. Leo never really carried a primary weapon since he uses fire, but he was already using his fire to keep himself warm in the cold environment and Calypso had no weapon at all. Plus there were ten wolves in that pack. Leo was already exhausted from having spent up too much energy earlier. He over-exhausted himself trying to save us."

"Is he okay?" Jason asked.

"Leo ate some ambrosia and drank a small amount of nectar, so he's healing up. But Calypso was badly injured by the wolves. Since she's mortal, we can't give her any of that or she'll burn to a crisp." Frank answered.

"Oh man, I'm so stupid." Leo said. "I knew taking Calypso with us was a bad idea. She's injured and it's all my fault. There's no way to heal her, we don't out of bandages and at this rate, she'll either die from the cold or an infection." He looked at Calypso. She had blood stains on her bandages from deep cuts on both her legs, a slashed cut on her stomach and several visible bite marks on both of her arms. "Calypso... I'm so sorry..."

"Yeah, we're not going anywhere until at least two of our band members are awake and have completely recovered from any of their injuries." Frank said. "I better get going. I'll see you later."

He hung up, and I felt guilty.

"Annabeth, what's the matter?" Piper asked.

"This is all my fault." I said. "Jason's right. Splitting up the group was a bad idea. Calypso's dying and it's all my fault!" I started crying with my eyes closed. "If I had never told us to split up, Frank and the others wouldn't have been attacked by wolves. If I had just told Percy to stop with the fooling around, none of this chaos would be happening. I knew it was a bad idea to have premarital sex, and I should have stopped him before we got into forking. Face it guys, this disaster is all my fault!"

I felt Percy hold me in his arms. "Don't... don't cry Annabeth..." he said. He wiped away my tears. "You shouldn't blame yourself. Look at me." I opened my eyes. "At this point, it doesn't matter who's at fault for what. We just have to see justice done."

"Your boyfriend's right, Annabeth." a familiar voice said. I turned around and opened my eyes. "You mustn't blame yourself for anything."

"Hera." I said, bowing down to her.

She appeared to us wearing a long-sleeved pink dress and white fur boots. Her hair was covered by a white jacket and she wore a golden necklace with a white lotus charm on it. The goddess I used to hate stood before us in the form of a woman in her 30's.

"Annabeth, may I speak to you privately?" Hera asked.

"Um, sure. Okay." I said.

We backed up a few feet from the others.

"Annabeth, what you are doing here in this cold barren wasteland?" Hera asked. "This isn't really good for you, or your child."

"I know, but, well bad things have occurred. And we're in here trying to find the one responsible for all this chaos." I answered.

"Really? Explain to me what happened." Hera commanded.

I told her about my mother going insane, accusing Percy of the crime he never committed, the theft of the Golden Fleece and the murder of Peleus.

"I see. So you believe Khione is responsible for Athena's madness and the theft of the Golden Fleece?" Hera asked.

"I'm a little skeptical, but we don't have any other ideas as to who did either of those crimes." I answered. "I want to believe that the person who made my mother go insane and stole the Golden Fleece are the same person, but as I wonder this tundra, I'm beginning to wonder how right my accusations are."

"Either way, I'd be happy to help you get even. I still hate that Meddlesome D-list Goddess." Hera said. She looked at my friends. "Do you friends know that you're pregnant?"

"They are well aware. Even the four that aren't with us know of my affair with Percy." I answered.

"Where are Frank, Hazel, Leo and the former Titaness known as Calypso?" she asked.

"I told the group to split up in hopes of finding Khione faster, but in hindsight, it was a very bad idea. Hazel is still unconscious from the strain of Shadow Travel, Calypso has been terribly injured and may even die, and Leo burned himself out a while ago. The group is in no condition to hunt down a crazed goddess." I answered. "I can only pray that they will make it out alive."

"I see. Normally I would be forbidden from helping out heroes on a quest, but you guys aren't really on a formal quest. No prophecy assigned, no one telling you what you must do or where to go. You're just following your instincts. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll help you guys out. Just don't mention this to anyone." Hera ordered.

"I can certainly keep quiet about this." I said.

We rejoined with the others.

"So Annabeth tells me that you three are already aware that she's with child. Is this true?" she asked.

"We know." Piper answered.

"If only we knew where that crazed ice goddess is..." Jason said.

"Well, you guys are in luck. I know exactly where Khione is." Hera said.

"Where is she?" Percy asked.

"Why tell you when I could just take you there?" Hera asked. "Close your eyes."

We did as she said. I felt powerful energy surround us. Then felt a sudden shift.

"Open your eyes." Hera said.

We opened our eyes and found ourselves in Moscow. It was a beautiful sight. Snow was on the ground, and in the alley Hera teleported us to, we could see Saint Basil's Cathedral and the Red Square. If it wasn't for the cold climate, I'd consider living here.

"The Goddess of Snow is staying in Moscow Marriott Grand Hotel, which is very close by to where we are now. I have no idea what room she's staying in, or how you're going to get into the hotel, but I've brought you to where the cold coward hides." she said. "There is nothing more I can do to assist you, and I'm already pushing myself to what a god can get away with. Therefore, I must say goodbye and good luck."

Hera transformed herself into a squirrel and scurried off. The Moscow Marriott Grand Hotel was white on the exterior and stood at seven stories tall.

"Okay, before we barge in, we need a plan." I said.

"What's your plan, Wise Girl?" Percy asked.


	7. We Break Into a Luxury Hotel

We entered the Moscow Marriott Grand Hotel. There was a long line of people at the desk to get a hotel room.

"You ready, Piper?" I asked.

"Ready." she answered. She walked forth. "Go to sleep." she commanded. "Everyone but my friends, just lie down. Take a nap." she commanded.

Everyone except for us fell into a deep sleep.

"Perfect. Now we have to figure out where Khione is." Percy stated.

"There are seven floors. But if we stick together, it'll take forever to search every hotel room. Also, if we bust down the doors, the humans will call the cops." I said. "Let's split into groups of two. I'll go with Piper and search the first three floors. Percy and Jason will search the upper floors. If any of us find Khione, contact the other group immediately." I ordered. "Now let's get going."

Percy and Jason took an elevator to search the upper floors. We started looking around. Soon I got a videochat call from Percy.

"Ok, how do we determine where Khione is?" he asked.

"Keep track of the room numbers. The ones you see someone other than Khione enter, cross it off." I said. "That would be a good place to start."

Me and Piper looked at the Grand Alexander restaurant, the fitness center, pool and several other areas. Then I realized something. If Khione was staying in a hotel, she would have used an alias to hide her true identity!

 _I'm an idiot! We'll never find her like this!_ I thought to myself.

"I just realized something bad. We'll never be able to find Khione because she went under a different alias. I'm such a fool!" I exclaimed.

"Now what do we do?" Jason asked.

"I don't..." I began to say, before Jason screamed.

He was being dragged away by ice chains bound to his ankles. Percy followed him.

"Where are you guys?" I asked.

"Seventh floor. East end." Percy answered, running with his phone in hand. He hung up. I tried running, but I couldn't keep up with Piper. Due to my pregnancy, I found myself running out of breath quicker than I thought I would. This was not good. I dropped to my knees and gasped for air.

"Come on!" Piper exclaimed.

She grabbed me by the wrist as she sprinted up the steps, dragging me along. Eventually, we found the room where Khione was staying. It was a normal hotel room, except for the fact that the walls were ice blue and the fan had been replaced by an ice chandelier.

"You are fools to try and confront me!" Khione exclaimed. With sheer force, she shut the door. "Why do you dare confront me after all these years?"

"Don't play dumb, Khione!" Jason exclaimed.

"We know that you caused my mother to go insane and that you stole the Golden Fleece!" I exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Khione asked.

"You have the Golden Fleece! Where is it?!" Piper asked.

"I don't have any fleece. And I haven't spoken to Athena in several moons. How dare you accuse me!" she screamed.

 _Oh no,_ I thought. _We were wrong. And now the Daughter of Boreas is about to unleash her wrath on us!_

"So Khione never stole anything or controlled Athena with her power." Percy stated.

"You accuse me of crimes I never committed. Why are you such fools? Do you want to freeze to death?!" Khione asked.

"You're under oath." I said. "How are you going to kill us?"

"You swore on the River Styx not to kill us or hunt us down!" Percy exclaimed.

"I swore never to hunt you down." Khione said. "I never said I swore not to kill you."

"What?!" we all exclaimed in unison.

Khione threw a beam of ice at us and we barely dodged it.

"I don't get it! I thought Ares said she couldn't kill us without facing severe consequences!" Percy exclaimed.

"Ob..." I began, before Khione formed several snowballs and threw them right at our faces. "Obviously he was wrong!" I brushed the snow off my face.

"We're dead. So very very dead." Jason said.

"Don't say that, Jason!" I scolded.

Khione threw an ice beam at the light switch, and the power went out. Then Khione made it snow in her bedroom. She fired blasts of snow and ice at us. Percy dodged them and attempted to strike her with his blade Riptide, but she sidestepped and made his sword so cold that it felt like it burned him. He dropped his sword and she knocked him into the wall.

"Percy!" I exclaimed.

Khione tripped me up and then my head started spinning. Another symptom and it just had to occur now of all times. Did the Fates just want to torture me? It was four against one, this should have been easy. It wasn't! I got punched right in the face and soon I realized that Percy was trapped in a block of ice. I felt like crying, but my sorrow soon turned to anger. I growled and ran towards the goddess. She twisted my arm and threw me face first to the floor, but I quickly stopped myself by putting my arms on the floor. I got up and tried to hit her with my sword, but she dodged my every move. She created an ice shield and used it to deflect the sword attacks from me, Jason and Piper.

"You're outnumbered, Khione! So give it up!" Jason exclaimed.

"You may outnumber me, but what you and your friends fail to realize is that you're outmatched." Khione retaliated.

The ice goddess threw a huge ice ball at Piper and Jason, turning them into ice sculptures. I gasped in terror. I then noticed that Percy was starting to freeze to death. This was very very bad.

"And know you're all alone." Khione said, looking at me. "You will eventually die from the cold, just like your friends are dying now!"

I growled and unsheathed my dagger (the one Luke used to kill himself with had been retrieved via a magical friend of mine), and wielded it in my right hand. I had to stop her before she killed my friends. I charged towards her and stabbed her in the arm and the stomach. She shrieked in agony. I could see the Ichor (or golden blood of the immortals) flow from her wounds. She dropped to her knees.

"I'm never alone." I said. "Now release my friends!"

"You... you have bested me." she said.

"Well, aren't you going to unfreeze them and run?" I asked.

"You don't get it, Annabeth. I have nowhere else to go." she said. "I'm not welcome in the world of the gods."


	8. How to Repair a Shattered Crystal

Khione got up, and sat down on her bed. Her wounds would eventually repair themselves. She got rid of the ice and snow and turned the power back on.

"You're troubled. And I want to help." I said.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

Suddenly the door was busted down by Frank and his squadron. Hazel was awake and Calypso was alive.

"Freeze, Khione! You're in a lot of trouble!" Leo exclaimed.

"Hold it!" I screamed. "Khione isn't responsible for either of those crimes!"

"She isn't?" Hazel asked in bewilderment.

"No. Khione never did anything." I said.

Leo thawed Percy from his ice block and turned Piper and Jason back to normal.

"Why did you demigods blame me for the theft of the Golden Fleece and the duel between Athena and Percy?" Khione asked.

"Well, many of us doubted that you actually stole the Fleece." Jason began.

"But Annabeth believed that the person who stole the Fleece and the person who told Athena about Percy's faux crime were the same." Piper answered. "I was the first one to think you were responsible. I just recalled that you used your Charmspeak like ability to turn Aelous against us, lure Hera into a trap, and even shut down Olympus. We believed that she was controlled, and because of your previous actions, we thought you were responsible. I apologize for this. We all do."

"Khione, if you don't mind me asking, why are you in a luxury hotel in Russia?" Calypso asked.

The daughter of Boreas sighed. "I'm not sure if you were aware of this, but, after my side lost the Second Giant War, Boreas disowned all of us. Zethes and Calais were made mortal and forced to serve different kings. As for me, I had to teach ice magic to some magician in Brooklyn. I was under many restrictions and feared greater punishment."

"We are aware of this." I said. "Go on."

"About three months ago, on September 18th, I finished my service, but I was banished from Olympus and I was hated by many. Those who saw me ran away from me. After spending a day roaming the forest on the outskirts of New York City, I realized I was the most hated immortal deity in the entire world. The next day, I sent a letter to Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, asking him if I could go down to the Underworld and roam the land of the dead. The following day, I got back the letter, but for reasons I don't understand, he denied my request. I was banished from heaven, but could not go to hell. This must be what purgatory feels like." Khione said.

"Do you still have the letter Hades gave you?" Frank asked.

"For some reason yes." she answered.

"Can we see it?" Piper asked.

"Sure. Why not?" Khione answered.

She opened a drawer next to her bed and pulled out a letter. She gave it to Piper.

"What does it say?" Hazel asked.

"The letter reads: _To Khione, Goddess of Snow,_

 _I have received your letter about your request to enter my domain. Why exactly do you want to roam the Underworld for all eternity? No, I will not grant you permission to enter the Underworld. You can't be trusted, Khione. You kidnapped my sister Hera several years ago, you worked with Gaea for several months before and during the Second Giant War, and you shut down Olympus. You're not welcome in the Underworld, and I bet that if I granted you access, you would just cause trouble. I have a very busy job as King of the Underworld and you can't be trusted. Do not question me on this matter again, or I will kill one or both of your brothers, Zethes and Calais._

 _Sincerely, Hades, God of Death and Ruler of the Underworld."_ Piper read.

"Harsh much?" Percy asked.

"Well, he does make the rules on immortals trying to enter his realm." I said.

"Anyway, moving on, I was just about ready to go to Alaska, seeing as it was beyond the gods, nobody would be afraid of me. But then I heard some tourists talking about the upcoming Circle of Light Festival in Moscow. Deciding to get my mind off my troubles, I joined the festivities. So I used my powers to persuade the manager to let me stay here for free and get free room service. The Circle of Light Festival started on September 23rd, a few days after I arrived and lasted until the 27th. It was a beautiful sight and a lot of fun. I liked this place so much I decided to stay here and took on the alias of Crystal." Khione explained.

"Isn't staying here in the mortal realm in a hotel for free with free room service illegal?" Percy asked.

"Staying in the mortal realm? Unusual, but not illegal. Staying in a luxury hotel for free and added no charge room service? Yes. Do I care? Heck no." Khione answered. "I spend most of my time here. What else do I have to do?" She stood up from the bed. "Tell me, if you guys were in my shoes, what would you do?"

We stayed silent. I would have to think on this question.

"So, Leo," I said, breaking the awkward silence, "How did you find us?"

"After we were attacked by wolves, Leo was in slow recovery. We set up a campfire and stayed here for...? I don't really know. We're all losing track of the time. After trying to help Leo and Calypso recover, my grandmother, who I haven't seen in years, found us in the wilderness." Frank answered. "I never knew whether she was alive or not, so seeing her really warmed my heart. Shortly after, Hazel woke up, and we could continue our mission. She told us that she knew you and your friends were in Moscow, so Hazel summoned Arion to ride, and I turned into a horse while my grandmother shapeshifted into an eagle. She lead the way to Moscow Marriott Grand Hotel, and she then disappeared."

"Khione, we're really sorry about accusing you." I said. "If there's anything we can do to compensate, just tell us, and we'll see if it is in our power."

"There is something I want, but it's not possible." she said. "I want to know about the whereabouts of my brothers. If nothing else, to know whether they're alive or dead."

"We may not be able to do that, but we do know someone who can." Percy said.

Hazel got out a golden drachma, conjured a few gems and used a flashlight to create a rainbow. She tossed in the golden drachma and said, "Oh Fleecy. Do me a solid. Show me Nico di Angelo."

Nico di Angelo was seen at a table in a Chinese restaurant, and he was not alone. Will Solace was seen with him. They were eating potstickers (better known as dumplings) with chopsticks.

"Man, you're good with these." Will said.

"It just takes some practice." Nico said. He then noticed us. "Oh hello guys."

"Sorry to interrupt your little play-date, but we were hoping that you could do us a favor." Percy said. "Khione, come forth and tell Nico your request."

She came up to the rainbow.

"Khione? Wasn't she on Gaea's side during the Second Giant War?" Will asked.

"She was, but she's not evil." I said. "Perhaps troubled and lonely, but not evil."

"My brothers, Zethes and Calais, were stripped of their powers years ago and I have not heard from them since. I want you to try and summon their souls to see if they are alive or not." she said.

"Alright. I can do that." Nico said.

He channeled his energy outward and summoned the soul of a man. He had messy black hair and eyes, was missing a lot of teeth and had several large cuts, most likely symbolizing how he was killed. He wore a suit that had its sleeves destroyed, exposing his elbows but his pants were in one piece. Khione stared at him for a few moments and then cried.

"Cal..." she said. "What has happened to you?"

Calais, better known by his nickname of Cal, frowned and answered, "King's servant... Killed me.. Out of crazy..."

"He killed you out of insanity?" I asked.

"Yes, Wise Girl..." he answered.

"What about Zethes?" Khione asked.

"He lives." Cal answered.

"Thank you, Nico." Khione said.

"It was nothing. You are dismissed." he said.

Cal's spirit went back to the Underworld. Hazel cut off the connection, and Nico and Will disappeared.

"I guess we better get going." I said. "I hope things turn out for the better for you."

"I've gotten used to living in the mortal realm. Although, maybe interacting with others will do me some good." Khione said. "Good luck on your quest. You're gonna need it."

"Hazel, can you take us to Camp Half-Blood?" Percy asked.

"Certainly." Hazel said. We all joined hands in a circle formation. "Here we go again..."

And we tumbled through the darkness again.


	9. The Promise of a Former Praetor

We were taken to the northern area of Camp Half-Blood. Hazel promptly collapsed onto the ground.

"I hear noises." Travis said.

"It's just the Heroes of Olympus." Connor said. "And their beautiful angel Calypso."

"Back off, punks. She's mine." Leo said.

"Looks like we're back to square one again." I said.

"Now what?" Percy asked.

"We need to make a list of possible suspects." I answered.

I grabbed a note card and wrote out; Khione, Dionysus, then slashed both of them out.

"If it's not Dionysus, then maybe it's one of his sons?" Leo suggested.

"He doesn't have very many children, but it is possible." Percy said.

I wrote the name Pollux.

"Isn't there a roman child or legacy of Bacchus, the Roman aspect of Mr. D?" Piper asked.

"Yeah, there's Dakota, son of Bacchus." Jason answered.

I wrote down Dakota.

"Now the real question is where are both of them?" Frank asked.

"We'd have to find Mr. D, and even then, I don't think he would appreciate us blaming his children of theft and/or corruption of a goddess." I answered.

"Well, I can tell you that Dakota is in Sacramento." Jason said.

"Sacramento? What's he doing there?" Calypso asked.

"Long story..." Jason began.

Suddenly a giant eagle landed on the ground. A Roman demigod jumped down and put her hand on the nearest tree. She looked up and saw us.

"Frank Zhang... You must come to Camp Jupiter at once. You're needed back there as soon as possible." she said.

"Gwen?" Percy asked.

"Bring Percy along. He needs to come too." Gwen ordered.

"Hold on. Who told you to come here?" Frank asked.

"The augur told me to find Frank Zhang and if possible, Percy Jackson." she answered.

"Did something bad happen?" he asked.

"It's several bad things actually." Gwen answered. "Which is why we need to get to Camp Jupiter as soon as possible."

Frank and Percy got on the eagle. The rest of us got on Festus.

"What's with all the hustle and bustle?" Calypso asked.

"I'm sorry about this, but it's a long story. I'd rather explain once we land at Camp Jupiter." Gwen answered.

So we were flying for a number of hours in silence. There was no rest for any of us (except for Hazel, who was unconscious for most of the day). While on the dragon, Jason tended to Calypso's injures and wrapped up her exposed wounds with bandages. Calypso didn't seem sick, but Leo was still worried. Eventually, at who knows when, we landed at Camp Jupiter.

"So remind us again, what happened?" I asked.

"It's a series of unfortunate events." Gwen answered. "Trying to pinpoint where things started is difficult, but I guess one could say it started when Dakota turned 21. You see, during the Second Giant War, he was the age of 17. Because he was underage, he drank Kool-Aid with three times the amount of sugar. Usually it caused little to no problems." We passed the mess hall.

"So what happened?" Percy asked.

"Four years ago, on June 3rd, he turned 21, and after much putting a lot of pressure on Frank, he finally got the privilege to drink alcohol. Reyna was not here during this time, as she took on a solo quest to save her sister Hylla from the wrath of Antaeus. Anyway, just as Hazel and others predicted, Dakota being drunk caused many problems. Hannibal got loose and it took us a week to find him. By the time we found him, he was dead. That was Dakota's first warning. About two weeks later, after Reyna returned from her quest, he unintentionally caused the death of Hank. He got his alcohol drinking privilege taken away by Reyna. However, he had developed an addiction to alcohol. His supply of wine had been locked up in Reyna's chambers, but while she was preparing for the Feast of Fortuna, which was to occur the next day, he reclaimed the bottles of liquor. Then things really got out of hand."

"Oh no..." I muttered. "What happened next?"

"He got extremely drunk on the day of the Feast. Several evil spirits somehow got into the camp. A fire had started in the Garden of Bacchus. Spirits were reeking havoc and Jacob, Larry, Bobby and Lelia all died in the chaos. It was not easy to get rid of them as nobody had the power of necromancy or Charmspeak to banish them. Nathan, the Augur who took Octavian's place, foresaw bad luck for Camp Jupiter that year and the year after that. It's normal to get bad luck every now and then, but twice in a row was unheard of. Yet Dakota never knew this. On the day of the spirit invasion, he was banished from Camp Jupiter forever because he was blamed for the chaos that took place." Gwen answered. "Unfortunately, now things are taking a turn for the worse."

"What do you mean, a turn for the worse?" Leo asked.

We entered Reyna's bedroom and gasped. Reyna was lying on a couch with a purple sheet over her body. Her arms were across her chest above the sheet and she looked so motionless.

"Reyna..." I said.

"Is she...dead?' Piper asked.

"No, but she's fallen into a coma." Gwen answered.

"How long has she been in her comatose state?" I asked.

"Nearly two days." she answered grimly.

"Two days? That's when Percy was blamed..." Leo muttered under his breath.

"We've tried everything to heal her, believing she was sick, but we don't even know what's wrong." Gwen explained. "Nathan fears that Reyna may die."

"And that's why Frank was called here. Since he's the Praetor of the Fifth Legion." Leo said.

"That, and to see if Percy will keep his promise." Gwen said.

"A promise?" I asked.

"Oh that, well, I can't." Percy said.

"But you must!" Gwen exclaimed.

"How do you even know what I'm talking about?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.

"Once, Reyna had temporarily awoken from her endless slumber, but only for about a minute. I asked Reyna what I should do, and she told me and Nathan about Percy making a promise to the Roman Legion. After she fell back into her coma, Nathan, the son of Apollo and current Augur, told me to find Frank Zhang and Percy Jackson." Gwen answered.

"Percy?" I asked.

He sighed. "There's something I never told you, since I was asked to keep silent about it for many years." he responded. "I'm sorry for having to tell you all this under such dire circumstances, but I see that I may not have a choice in this matter. Several years ago, I was called to Camp Jupiter. It was a week after the Second Giant War. We were discussing the three praetors issue that was not resolved due to Leo being possessed and unwillingly attacking Camp Jupiter with the Argo II. And by we, I mean me, Frank and Reyna. We had considered inviting Jason as well, but later on we decided not to. Because of my home back at Camp Half-Blood, I did not want to be praetor, but Reyna became paranoid that another one would be lost. So I made a secret promise that if Frank nor Reyna could serve as praetor of Camp Jupiter, that I would step in and take their place."

"But you can't do that! Your friends need you!" I shouted. I felt tears about to fall from my eyes. "I need you."

"I know. And that's the problem." he said. "I need to figure out what's going on with Athena's corruption and the theft of the Golden Fleece. And I need all my friends by my side to do it."

"But if you and Frank leave, the leadership will go the augur and frankly, I don't trust Nathan." Gwen said.

"Why not?" Calypso asked, coughing twice. "He's a good guy, isn't he?"

"I want to believe that he wouldn't do anything outrageous like Octavian did, but they are related." Gwen answered.

"His loyalty is to Reyna." Jason stated.

"Reyna is dying!" Gwen exclaimed. "He may very well betray us as Reyna gets closer to death!"

"I heard that." Nathan said, entering the room. "Don't you trust me? I'm not like my great-great nephew Octavian!"

"You liar!" Gwen exclaimed.

She stabbed him in the arm with her gladius and he screamed in pain. He growled and unsheathed his sword.


	10. Calypso Goes AWOL

We saw Gwen and Nathan fighting each other like a cat and dog would. I tried to look at their eyes to see if they had a golden flash, but I saw nothing of the sort.

"We gotta do something or they'll kill each other!" Piper exclaimed.

"But what?" I asked.

Soon they were both disarmed. Hazel held Gwen's gladius in her left hand and Nathan's sword in her right while she was in Frank's arms. The look on her face was not very happy.

Then she asked, "What in the name of my father is going on here?!"

"Ah, Hazel, you're finally awake!" Frank exclaimed happily.

"Camp Jupiter?" she asked. "I don't remember transporting us here."

"You didn't. We went here shortly after we got back to Camp Half-Blood." Jason answered.

We told Hazel about Reyna's condition and Percy's promise to Camp Jupiter.

"So we're basically in a gridlock situation." she concluded.

"Pretty much." Percy stated. "Reyna's dying, nobody trusts the augur, and we still don't know who stole the Golden Fleece or who mind-controlled Athena."

"Was she really even mind controlled?" Leo asked.

"Well there's no way she could be possessed by an eidolon or any other spirit for that matter." I said.

"So many questions..." Calypso said, before coughing. "Without any answers..." She coughed again.

"Are you okay?" Gwen asked.

"I'm fine..." she said, before coughing again.

"She probably just has a cold or something from the wound infection back when we were in Russia a few hours ago." Leo said.

"Now what do we do?" Hazel asked.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." Frank answered. "And what time it is anyway?"

"It's 1:35. For those of you from Camp Half-Blood, that's 4:35 with the three hour time shift." Gwen answered.

"4:35 back home. Six hours to get here. Oh boy, that means we were searching for Khione..." Percy started.

"For three hours in a barren tundra." I finished.

Piper groaned. "We haven't eaten anything since then." she said.

"You haven't, but I've been munching on various snacks on the ride over here." I corrected.

"You're prepared for anything, aren't you?" she asked.

"You could say that." I said.

Hazel gave back Gwen's gladius and Nathan's sword. "Now try not to kill each other." she said as Frank set her down.

The six of us went down to the mess hall and ate lunch. Leo took Calypso to the infirmary to treat Calypso's cold. Nathan went back to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus to continue his divination rituals. As I ate, I thought about my pregnancy and the risks I was taking. It had been only three days since I discovered it, and was already doing stupid things. I shouldn't have been battling Khione in this condition, but at the same time, I didn't want to be a sitting duck. I mentally sighed. I always hated feeling helpless. I wanted to cry but I didn't want anyone to see me like this. Gwen didn't even know of all this.

"So where exactly is Dakota living now?" Frank asked Gwen.

"If I could tell you I would." she answered.

"All we know is that he's in Sacramento." Jason said.

"The quickest driving route would get us there in about an hour and a half." I said.

"But would Dakota really corrupt Athena or steal the Golden Fleece?" Gwen asked.

"We don't know." Percy answered.

"All of our suspects are possible but unlikely for one or more reasons." Hazel pointed out.

"Really? And how is it so?" Gwen asked.

"For instance, we thought Khione may have been responsible for Athena's corruption because she closed down Mount Olympus and turned Aelous against me and my friends on our quest to save Hera. Yet Peleus wasn't frozen, and Leo questioned what she would want with the Golden Fleece." Jason answered.

"It seems like you wanted to blame her for two crimes." Gwen stated.

"Annabeth believes that they're the same person, but, I'm actually beginning to doubt her." Frank said.

"We're running out of leads..." I said.

Leo entered the mess hall and grabbed two slices of pizza.

"So what did I miss?" Leo asked.

"We were just telling Gwen about the former and current suspects on our list." I answered.

"So is Calypso alright?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, she's fine." Leo quickly said, before taking another bite of pizza.

"Leo..." I said.

"What's going on?" Piper asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it." he answered.

"What's wrong? You seem worried." Hazel said.

"Calypso... is terribly sick. There's no way she can continue traveling with us." Leo answered.

"Why, what's wrong?" I asked.

"She has..." Leo began.

"Stay away from us, you monster!" Nathan shouted from a distance. "You are a lair!"

"Oh no..." Leo muttered.

We all ran outside to the mess hall. Nathan was wearing plastic gloves and threw Calypso onto the ground.

"Nathan, what are you doing?!" Gwen asked.

"This girl is a liar. She claimed herself as a daughter of Ceres, but she is just a mere mortal!" Nathan answered.

"I know mortals aren't allowed here, but you have to help me. Please." Calypso pleaded.

"Why should I help you?" he asked.

"If it makes you feel any different, I was formerly a Titaness before I gave up my powers." she answered.

"Wait, you're Calypso, as in, the daughter of Tethys and Altas?! You don't deserve our help, you deserve death!" Nathan exclaimed.

He unsheathed his sword and ran towards her. Leo threw a beam of fire at him. Nathan's clothes were singed and his pants burned, exposing his knees.

"You stay away from her!" Leo screamed. He ran in front of Calypso.

"I couldn't stay too close to her. She's contagious." Nathan warned.

"With what?!" Percy asked.

Calypso coughed several times in a row. Then she coughed up blood.

"Tuberculosis." I answered.

Gwen unsheathed her dagger and ran at Nathan, yelling, "You monster! This is all your fault!"

The two were fighting once again. Gwen stabbed Nathan in the arm, giving him a deep cut.

"I'm surprised that you're doing all this." Nathan said.

He dodged her every move.

"Why would I not fight against you?!" Gwen asked.

Gwen kicked him down. I wanted to stop this feud, but I didn't know how.

"Aren't you supposed to be recovering from that personal tragedy?" he asked, getting up from the ground.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to strike at him.

"Don't dodge the question." Nathan said. "I know that less than a week ago, you suffered a miscarriage."

Gwen gasped and dropped her weapon. She froze in her tracks as her blood turned cold. Then Nathan kicked her down. He raised his sword.

"Stop!" Calypso muttered. "I get the point." She coughed again. "I'm not wanted here. You don't have to kill Gwen because of it!"

"But where will you go?" Gwen asked.

"To Sacramento." she answered, standing up. "I'll go after Dakota. I'll find him and get the truth from him one way or another."

We all gasped. "Calypso, are you crazy?! You need help!" Leo exclaimed.

"They won't give me any help." Calypso said. "So why do I even try? Just give me a car and some keys and I'll get out of your hair."

Nathan handed her a set of keys. "Good luck finding the car it goes with." he said.

Calypso slapped him and walked away. Leo fell to his knees and started crying. Nathan walked away, most likely to cleanse himself of traces of Calypso's sickness. I walked up to Gwen and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"I don't understand. How did he know?" she asked. "I still don't even understand how it happened, or why..."

I mentally shrugged. I wish I knew how to comfort her.

"Great. Just great. Calypso's gone off on her own, Gwen and Nathan really hate each other, and the latter is the augur, who is a big fat jerk." Jason sarcastically remarked. "Now what?"

"I have a plan." I answered. "While Calypso tracks down Dakota, I'll go after Pollux. I'll be using a hellhound to find him, and I'll interrogate him."

"But what if you get hurt?" Percy asked.

"I'll be fine." I said.

"I don't want you just going off on your own." Percy said.

"Okay. I'll take two others with me." I said. "Percy will join me, yes?" He nodded. "That leaves Frank to run Camp Jupiter, and I imagine that Hazel would want to stay here, so who's going to be the third person to join us?"

"I'm not going anywhere." Leo said.

Piper looked at Jason. "Rock, paper scissors? Loser must go?" she asked.

"Sure. I never lose." Jason answered.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" they said in unison.

Piper formed scissors while Jason formed paper.

"Scissors cuts paper." Piper said. "I win."

"Well, I stand corrected." Jason said.

Piper kissed him on the cheek. "Goodbye and good luck, mon petit ami." she said.

"Thanks." he said.

We packed up our supplies and left Camp Jupiter for the woods.


	11. I Remember a Very Stupid Decision I Made

Me, Jason and Percy went into the woods. We were far from Camp Jupiter.

"Alright, now that we've determined our course of action, now we need to decide who's going to be bait." Jason said.

"I'll do it. I need to call my mom anyways." Percy said.

"Are you going to tell her the big news?" I asked.

"Not yet. There's too much going on right now." Percy said.

He took off his bracelet, put it in his pocket and got out his cellphone. Jason got out the ropes as the two of us hid behind a bush. Percy started calling his mother, Sally Jackson. Percy said he wasn't going to tell her that we were expecting a child. I wondered what her reaction would be when she finally did find out.

"Hello mom. I meant to call you earlier, but, I haven't been able to find the time." he said. There was a brief period of silence. "Why? Well, it's a pretty long story. How's my little sister doing?" Another moment of silence. "That's great to hear. I know her birthday's coming up pretty soon. If I can find the time, maybe I can get her a real birthday present. If not, then I'll just do what I did last year; a birthday card with about $20 in cash." More silence. "Keeping you in the dark? That's crazy talk." He was obviously lying, and probably not very well. We couldn't hear what Mrs. Jackson was saying. "Well, it's a long story and I..." He noticed a hellhound. "I'm going to have to call you back."

He hung up. Me and Jason bound the hellhound with rope. The monster attempted to bite me but I quickly sidestepped and avoided his attack. (I have no idea whether it's really a boy or girl, so bear with me.) I got out a piece of Pollux's ripped Camp Half Blood T-shirt and held it to the hellhound's nose. He sniffed it and I put the reins on the monster. Then me and Jason got onto the hellhound. Percy decided to ride Blackjack alongside us. The hellhound took off, traveling southeast. We had no idea where we were going or how long this whole journey would take, but we knew that the hellhound would lead us to Pollux's location. Percy put on his wristband and Blackjack looked rather scared as he rode alongside the hellhound.

I guess now would be a good time to explain why Hera and I aren't enemies anymore. Well, it all started back nearly four years ago. It had been nearly a year since the Giants defeat and I was 18 years old. I was visiting Mount Olympus to speak to my mother for advice. I arrived there very early, and Hera was in the throne room all by herself. She wore a white tunic dress and her black hair was loose. Her eyes were blue and she was very angry.

"Ugh... That unfaithful Zeus... What ever happened to me? To us?! He never even speaks to me anymore! That concubine is not worthy of him, no one is! How fortunate that she died in that car accident. They'll never know it was me. If I could do so, I would destroy every bastard child of Zeus!"

I gasped loudly. At first I thought Hera heard me, but she dismissed it. I felt so infuriated. She wasn't just talking about Zeus's demigod children throughout the ages, but all the gods and goddesses he had fathered, including my mother. I left Mount Olympus, taking the Empire State Building Elevator back down. I pushed the button and waited for the door to open.

"That Hera! She's so despicable! She never gets punished for any of her crimes! She doesn't deserve to be queen!" I exclaimed.

The elevator door opened and I went back down. I thought that I was alone that day, but I was wrong. Hermes had heard and recorded my entire conversation about how horrible Hera was and spread this news all over Olympus. Two days later, Hera came down to Camp Half Blood. She appeared in front of the campfire in the middle of the afternoon. They all bowed to her in respect.

"Where is the one named Annabeth Chase?" she asked.

"I'm right here." I answered, walking forth to her. "What do you want from me?"

"You have no respect for me, do you, Wise Girl?" Hera asked. "I can't believe you said all those things about me! Spreading false rumors and lies!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"I'm talking about this." she answered.

She snapped her fingers and a pink screen appeared. On the pink screen, I was over by the elevator waiting for the door.

"That Hera! She's so despicable! She never gets punished for any of her crimes! She doesn't deserve to be queen!" I exclaimed.

The campers gasped. How did Hera find that tape?

"You'll pay for that Annabeth Chase. You just made a grave mistake." Hera warned.

"You're the one who have a grave mistake," I retorted. "You killed one of Zeus's lovers, and you said that if you could, you would kill every bastard child of Zeus! You're a monster, and you never pay for your crimes! I challenge you to a duel!"

Everyone gasped. "When and where?" she asked.

"The former Titan Base camp that was used by our foes in the Battle of Manhattan. Meet me there at sunset tomorrow." I said.

"You're on." she said.

The following day, Percy and Grover were with me as the former drove the car to the titan base.

"You don't have to do this." Grover said.

"You're going to be killed." Percy said. "Hera is ruthless."

"I know. I don't care. Someone needs to slap some sense into that lady!" I exclaimed. "Stop here. This is close enough."

Carrying the two standard weapons I had with me (my sword and my dagger), plus an electric spear I borrowed from Clarisse, I got out of the car and walked forward. I knew I was doing something stupid, but at the time, I didn't really even care. After ambling around the former Titan base, I found Hera sitting down a throne she made for herself out of peacock feathers. She stood up and her makeshift throne disappeared.

"So you finally decided to show up." she said.

"Why wouldn't I grace you with my presence?" I asked.

"You're a fool Annabeth. You are not worthy to even be in my presence." Hera stated.

"Enough talk, let's end this!" I exclaimed.

The battle was very long. According to Percy, who timed the match, the match lasted one hour, 59 minutes and 45 seconds. We battled each other for nearly two hours. Clarisse's electric spear had been broken during the duel, but she expected that to happen. My sword and dagger were still in tip-top shape. Hera had been wounded so many times over.

"So when will you admit that I'm right?" I asked.

"Never!" Hera answered. "I'm the Queen of Olympus. I never did anything wrong! Hercules deserved his punishment."

"You brought it upon him! You're the reason why monsters can find demigods! You care nothing for demigods and you're just a cruel heartless monster!" I exclaimed, striking her stomach. That was the one area that hadn't bleed yet.

"You are far more persistent than I thought." Hera said, dropping to her knees. "I killed so many people and caused so much trouble because of my jealously."

"You have the right to be jealous, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to unleash your wrath on innocent people." I said, helping her up.

"I can't believe that I've been blind to the suffering I've caused for so many millennia..." she said.

I dropped to my knees. I was exhausted. Needless to say, Hera learned a lesson she won't forget.

"Annabeth... Annabeth." a voice said. It was Jason.

I realized we were about to crash, so I pulled the reins, stopping the hellhound. We were in front of a big building. It was 7:45 pm, and we had been traveling east for several hours.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"We're in Phoenix." Percy answered.

I looked closer at the building in front of us. "That is the Westin Phoenix Downtown hotel. That must be where Pollux is."

"What do we do with the hellhound now?" Percy asked.

I got out my dagger and stabbed the monster, turning it to dust and we got off.

"Now we have to find where Pollux is." I answered.

"He's probably staying in a hotel room." Percy said.

I looked at the hotel and thought to myself for a brief moment. "Something tells me this may not be the case." I said.


	12. We Order Answers With a Side of Fries

The three of us walked up to the hotel counter. At least we weren't scourging the hotel this time.

"Let me do the talking." I said.

"How may I help you?" the clerk asked.

"Is there a restaurant in this establishment?" I asked.

"Right over there, on your left." he said, pointing in that direction.

We went to the restaurant and got a table for three. As we sat around waiting for our table, I thought about Calypso. Was she alive? Was she scared?

"Do you really think Pollux is here?" Percy asked.

"If he's not here, then we'll have to do that hound hunting all over again." I said.

"I'd rather not do that again." Jason said.

"Chase, party of three." the hostess said.

"That's us." I said.

We rose from the bench and followed the hostess to our table.

"Your server will be with you shortly." she said.

"Um, Miss. There wouldn't happen to be anyone named Pollux working at this establishment, would there?" I asked.

"Pollux? What kind of name is that?" she asked.

"It's Greek." I answered.

"Well, we have a guy named Peter here, which is the closest name to Pollux." the waitress answered.

"Could you see if he's available?" I asked.

"Certainly." she said, walking away.

While waiting for our server to come to the table, I got out my phone and looked at my messages. I had a text message from my father. His text message read, _I hope you're having a wonderful time on your vacation with Percy. I'm so proud of you, Annabeth._ Then I looked at Magnus. He had called during the flight to San Francisco and he left a voicemail. I put the phone to my ear and listened to the voicemail.

"Hey Annabeth, long time no see. I was just calling to see how you were doing. In Valhalla, we got a daughter of Thor who was recently killed and has become a new resident. I don't know what floor she's on, but she was killed while trying to take down a group of terrorists. She nearly had all of them accept for one, according to what Sam told me. Anyway, I hope you're doing alright. Here's to strange and abnormal lives!" he said.

Neither of them had any idea what was really going on. How could I keep them (as well as my maternal half-siblings) in the dark like this?

"Annabeth?" a familiar voice asked.

"Pollux." I said.

Pollux had his blond hair combed back and had violet colored eyes. He was in a server uniform and had a name tag that read, "Peter."

"When did you get your name changed to Peter?" Percy asked.

"I didn't. Peter's always been my nickname among my human friends." he answered.

"We have a lot of questions to ask you." I said.

"Unfortunately, I got several other tables to serve." he started.

"I know. That's why we'll ask you three questions at a time, one per customer for each time you come over here. You can write down the answers on sticky notes and give them to us." I said.

"Alright. In that case, can I get you started with some drinks?" Pollux asked.

"Sure. I'll have a glass of water." I answered. "Did you know that my mother challenged Percy to a duel?"

"I'll take a Pepsi." Jason said. "Do you know why she challenged Percy?"

"I'd like a Sierra Mist. And you did you know the Golden Fleece was stolen?" Percy asked.

He wrote down our drink orders. "Three drinks and three answers coming up." he said, before leaving.

"So, why exactly is Pollux, er, Peter, here in this place?" Jason asked.

"Phoenix is the birthplace and hometown of Pollux and his twin brother, Castor." I answered. "They were brought to Camp Half-Blood by a satyr named Maron. They were eight and I was nine. Pollux and Castor never had a sibling rivalry like most siblings do. They got along amazingly. This might have been due to the fact that neither of them had very many friends, but anyway, they were a perfect duet. They even had a dream of one day opening up their own Greek restaurant, with Castor as the chef, and Pollux as the waiter and host."

"So, what happened? Where is Castor?" Jason asked.

"Unfortunately, about seven years ago, the Battle of the Labyrinth happened. Krono's forces had used the Labyrinth to find an entrance into Camp Half-Blood. We were being invaded, and we were heavily outnumbered. Had it not been for Grover with his newly acquired Panic ability he got from Pan, we would have been defeated. During that chaos, Castor was killed. He was killed by an unknown enemy demigod." I answered.

"Oh... That's so sad..." Jason said.

"The aftermath was troubling as well. It took Dionysus six months to cope with Castor's death, and it took Pollux a year to move on. Pollux did not take part in the Second Giant War. When he turned 18, he left Camp Half-Blood for Phoenix, isolating himself from the camp." I added.

Pollux returned with our drinks. "You'll find your answers under your drinks." he said, handing our drinks to us. "Are you interested in an appetizer?"

"Yes, we'd like an order of your poutine." I said.

"Excellent choice. I personally love those thick cut fries and all the other stuff that they put on it." Pollux answered. "Any more questions?"

"Yes. Did you know that Reyna is terribly ill?" I asked.

"Did you know that Camp Jupiter has been cursed with bad luck?" Jason asked.

"And are you aware that the current augur, Nathan, is a big jerk?" Percy asked.

He wrote down our questions. "One order of poutine and three answers coming right up. I'll be back in a minute to take your order." Pollux said.

We passed the notes around. Mine read, _1\. I had no idea._ Jason's note read, _2\. Beats me._ And Percy's read, _3\. The Golden Fleece was stolen?! Who would do such a thing?!_

"So far he's being honest." I said. "What three things should we ask him next?"

"Haven't we asked him everything that could possibly mean he's a criminal?" Jason asked.

"We asked him about the Fleece, the duel, and Reyna's condition." I said. "I already had my doubts, but I'm beginning to doubt he even knows that's going on in the world of gods."

Pollux returned and we read the answers. _4\. No. Who is Reyna? 5. Camp Jupiter? What the heck is that? 6. I have no idea who Nathan is._

"Any more questions?"

"Nope. That's it." I said.

"It is?" Percy asked.

"Yes, it is. There's no way it could be Pollux. He's so oblivious to what has happened in the last few years." I said.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Quite a lot. We'll explain once your shift is done." I said.

He took our orders for dinner and left. We ate our dinner and it was quite delicious. Somehow, I ended up paying the bill (which was more expensive than I thought it would be). It was 9:25 by the time we had payed our bill, but we waited to tell Pollux the truth. We stood outside the hotel, sitting on a bench.

"So, what's happened in the last eight years or so?" he asked.

We told him about the Second Giant War, the discovery of Camp Jupiter and Roman Gods, the Second Demigod Civil War, and the defeat of Gaea. Then we told him that Dakota, the son of Bacchus, causing Camp Jupiter's curse. We told him just about everything. Well, everything except that I was expecting to give birth to Percy's child. I hadn't even told my father, or any of my family members for that matter. Athena was the only one who knew, and she did not take the news very well.

"Wow, this is a lot to process. I think I remember Dakota now." Pollux said. "I tried to deny that I was a demigod, forget about magic and mythology, and try to have a normal life. But I can't run from who I am..."

"I'm surprised that monsters haven't found you yet." Percy said.

"I don't even know what's going on in this country." Pollux said. "I think I'll find out soon enough though. It was great seeing you guys again. Good luck trying to find the culprit."

"Thanks. Now we're back at square one." I said.

"What about Calypso?" Percy asked.

Suddenly, my phone started vibrating.

"Speak of the devil." I answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Annabeth." she said, coughing. "I have several pieces of good and bad news."

I put her on speaker so that the others could hear. "What is it?" I asked.

"The good news, I'm being treated for my tuberculosis. The bad news, I won't be able to see you guys for several weeks. The better news, I found Dakota. The bad news, he has total retrograde amnesia. The good news, he had amnesia for over a year, making it impossible for him to have committed any crimes. He doesn't remember anything. The bad news, I think we're out of suspects." Calypso answered. "Did you interrogate Pollux?"

"Yes. There's no way it's him. He's isolated himself from the other world for so long. He's not responsible for anything." I answered. "I'll tell the others of this news."

"Good luck guys. I wish I could assist you." she said, before coughing again. "I'll see you later."

"Goodbye." I said. I hung up. "Yep. We're at rock bottom. Could this get any worse?"

Without any warning, I fainted.


	13. I Remember Camp Half-Blood Has Problems

Gwen and Nathan were arguing in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

"You disobeyed me. I never ordered you to go to Camp Half Blood." Nathan said.

"I couldn't just stand around and do nothing." Gwen retorted. "You're not the leader of Camp Jupiter."

"You ruined my chance to restore Camp Jupiter! You evil witch!" he exclaimed.

"Poor Calypso... She's all alone..." Leo said.

"So what? She was totally lame." Nathan stated.

"You're lame!" Gwen shouted.

"Do we have to get Frank and Hazel over here?" Piper asked.

"No!" they answered in unison.

"Then shut up." she said. "I swear I'm losing my mind. Gwen, come with me. We're going elsewhere."

Gwen walked out of the temple and away from Nathan. She followed Piper. Then Leo walked away and got out a picture of him and Calypso.

"Will anything ever be alright?" he asked himself.

Then the scene switched. Nathan was alone in the Temple.

"How will I become the leader like this?" he asked.

I woke up. We were in the woods, Percy and Jason had set up camp. A fire was going and Jason was roasting marshmallows for us. "How long was I unconscious?"

"Not long. About 20 minutes." Percy answered.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You fainted without any warning." he answered. "Is this a pregnancy symptom?"

"Unfortunately." I answered. "Did you tell Pollux?"

"Yes, but he swore he wouldn't mention it to anyone." Percy answered.

"Speaking of that, isn't there someone you need to talk to?" Jason asked. "You said it yourself that you were keeping several of your family members in the dark."

I sighed and answered, "There are many people that I could, or even should talk to, but we have so little time, and no leads at all."

"If you could choose just one family member to talk to, who would you choose?" he asked, while preparing s'mores for us.

I thought about the family members I had on my mother's side, which basically includes all of my half-siblings. Around the time I meet Percy, there were 12 residents in the Athena Cabin. Now there's only five. Malcolm Pace, the oldest one who I'm closest with, as well as four other half-siblings. In order of seniority, they are Eric, Albert, Henrietta, and Alyssa. Malcolm's 19 years old, so he'd be able to understand everything more than anyone else would. He already knew about the duel between Percy and Athena. I had no idea if my mother had told my half-siblings anything that happened in the last three days. I certainly hoped not. I felt so distant from them, as if they wouldn't even want me there.

Then I thought about my dad's side of the family; my father, two half-brothers, my step-mom and my cousin. My father, Fredrick Chase, would just view of my pregnancy as an inconvenience. He wouldn't understand. So scratch that. My half brothers are both 15, a seven year gap, they wouldn't understand and I don't even like Mathew or his twin brother Bobby. My step-mother, Erica Chase, she might understand and she might be able to help me. Although she would insist that I get pregnancy care appointments (which I couldn't afford). Then there's Magnus Chase. I wouldn't just be able to tell him I'm expecting a child, I'd be able to tell him everything. Since Magnus Chase is a Norse demigod, he's very familiar with the strange and abnormal lifestyle. I honestly felt like I had a better relationship with him then my immediate family members.

"Well, who will you tell?" Jason asked, biting into his s'more.

"I don't know. I'm torn between my half-brother Malcolm, and my cousin Magnus." I answered.

"Magnus?" Percy asked, finishing his s'more.

"You remember him, right?" I asked, eating my treat.

"Oh yeah right. I remember Magnus, his friend Sam and his other friend Jack who just wouldn't shut up." Percy answered.

"Malcolm's probably wondering where I am, or where I've been." I said. "I want to tell him the truth. But... I feel like Athena may have already spoken with him and my other half-siblings. What if she's poisoned their minds with lies? What if he doesn't understand?"

"Annabeth, I think you're overthinking this." Percy said.

I thought of Malcolm. He had no idea what was going on. Neither did Magnus. I sighed.

"There will come a day when I tell Magnus the truth. Today is not that day however." I said. I formed a rainbow and tossed in a golden drachma. "Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Accept this offering. Show me Malcolm Pace."

The rainbow showed Malcolm Pace wide awake in the Athena cabin. Everyone else was asleep.

"Annabeth?" he whispered. "Where have you been?"

"Long story." I answered, whispering. "What time is it for you guys?"

"It's 1:50 in the morning." Malcolm answered. "Hold on while I go outside."

"Won't the harpies come after you?" Percy asked.

"They did away with the harpies years ago." we answered in unison.

Malcolm went outside, but unfortunately, his cabin mates were woken up in the process.

"You were saying?" he asked.

"Malcolm, what gives?" Albert asked.

"Sorry guys. Annabeth called." he answered.

"Annabeth?" Alyssa asked. "We haven't seen you in days!"

"My brothers and sisters," I said, addressing my cabin mates, "I know I've been gone for a while. Part of this is my fault. I thought Athena may have spoken to you and told you terribly false rumors."

"Spoken to us? We haven't spoken to Athena any time within the last few days." Eric said.

"All that we know is that Athena challenged Percy to a duel for some strange reason." Henrietta said. "Malcolm told us that, and he doesn't know everything."

"Annabeth, please... Tell us what's going on." Malcolm said.

"Our mother, Athena, has lost her mind. She blames Percy for a crime that never happened. She challenged him to a duel, and ultimately, it was a draw. I stepped in to stop the fight before Percy was killed, and I saw a golden flash in her eyes as I dueled her. Shortly after, Ares, who had been watching the duel with us in person, subdued Athena and dragged her to who knows where." I answered.

"You don't know?" Alyssa asked.

"Don't know what?" I asked.

"What happened to our mother after the duel." Henrietta answered.

"We all had dreams about Athena's whereabouts on the night that the duel occurred." Malcolm answered.

"No. What happened?! Please tell me." I begged.

"After Ares subdued Athena, he dragged her to Olympus. He ordered Hephaestus to create a cage for her to keep her from escaping. The latter charged Ares with 100 golden drachmas to have it built. The war god was broke after this, but he knew that if Athena was not imprisoned, that she would eventually target Percy again. He also thought that she could go after Percy's friends as well. Athena currently stands in that cage above the Throne Room." Albert answered.

"So, why did mother want Percy killed?" Alyssa asked.

I sighed and asked, "I was getting to that. Can you keep a couple of secrets?"

"Certainly." Malcolm answered for all of them.

"Well... Percy was falsely accused of raping me." I answered. They gasped. Alyssa scratched her head in confusion. "This isn't true, but the fact that I'm pregnant with his child doesn't help the situation." Everyone but Alyssa gasped again.

"Am I the only one who's confused?" Alyssa asked.

"Pretty much." Henrietta answered.

"How old is she?" Percy asked.

"She's 11 years old." Albert answered. "She's not dumb, but she's just uninformed what all those terms mean."

"Annabeth. Did you presume that Athena told us everything she knew about this so called crime?" Malcolm asked.

"I thought so. I thought I wouldn't be welcome in the Athena Cabin, so I stayed in the Poseidon Cabin for two nights." I answered.

"Has your Yankees Cap lost its power?" Eric asked.

"Let me check." I said. I got out my cap, and I turned invisible. Then I took it off. "Guess not."

I told them about searching for and battling Khione, as well as Reyna's condition. I didn't leave anything out.

"Where are you guys?" Henrietta asked.

"Phoenix, Arizona." I answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Unfortunately, monsters are attacking Camp Half-Blood even more than we had anticipated. Rachael Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle of Camp Half-Blood, predicted at least one monster invasion per day. Unfortunately, there have been three invasions per day since the theft of the Golden Fleece. Several people have been injured, and Jason Harrison has been killed. We're running of fighters too quickly. What do we do?" Albert asked.

"Is everyone doing their part?" I asked.

"Well, there's one daughter of Hecate who isn't fighting, but she claims that she is attempting to find a way to recreate the border around Camp Half-Blood." Malcolm answered.

"Do you think that can even be done?" Alyssa asked.

"I doubt it." Albert said.

"If it works though, we won't have to patrol for monsters." Eric said.

"At least humans can't find the camp thanks to the Hecate cabin manipulating the Mist." Henrietta said.

"Well, I wish you guys good luck in defending the camp. It sounds like you will need it." I said. "And by the way, could you... not tell any of this information to the other campers?"

"We won't say a word." Malcolm said.

"But what if we get another half-sibling?" Albert asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." he answered. "Good night, Annabeth, and good luck."

Malcolm cut off the connection, and we stood there in silence.


	14. The Death of a Praetor

Jason sat down around the fire. Then he noticed something out the corner of his eye. He found a golden coin nearby the fire and tossed it into the air. Then it turned into a sword.

"What the? Ivlivs? But.. how can this be?" Jason asked himself.

'Jason? What is it?" I asked.

"This is my old weapon." he answered, picking up his sword. "But it was destroyed..."

"You're not the only one who got an old weapon back." I said. "How was it destroyed?"

"This was destroyed while I fought Enceladus." he said. "It exploded in a blast of white light. How could it have been repaired?"

"Perhaps we can ponder this mystery another day. It's late. We better get some rest. Tomorrow we head back to Camp Jupiter." Percy said.

I got into my sleeping bag and immediately passed out. Too bad my dreams weren't being very kind to me. I saw myself on Mount Olympus, with Athena in a cage. She shook and rattled the bars.

"I can't believe this. How did I end up trapped here?!" she asked herself.

"Pipe down, Athena." a voice complained. It was Venus.

The goddess stood in a purple ballgown dress with lavender elbow length gloves. Her hair was black and put into a bun. Her eyes were blue and she scowled at Athena.

"There's a reason Mars imprisoned you." she said to Athena. "You targeted an innocent demigod, you stole weapons from a god and several demigods, including my daughter Piper, to try and kill that said demigod."

"Perseus is not innocent!" Athena screamed. She shifted into Minerva. "I should have ordered Annabeth or one of my other children to kill him ages ago!"

"There is no need for that!" Venus yelled.

"What's going on here?!" Ares and Hephaestus asked in unison.

The two goddesses shifted back into their true Greek forms.

"Athena won't shut up." Aphrodite answered. "Can we create a sound-proof bubble so that no one has to listen to her screaming all night?"

Hera entered the Throne Room. "Certainly." she answered. She snapped her fingers and a purple bubble surrounded Athena's cage.

"This whole Athena losing her mind does not bode well." Aphrodite said.

"We still don't know who caused her insanity." Hera stated. "I talked to Dionysus, and unfortunately, he can't cure Athena. However, he does know that someone or something is controlling her."

"Did Percy even survive?" Hephaestus asked. "Somebody broke the cameras on my broadcast."

"Percy's alive. I saw the entire duel myself." Ares answered. "All bets that were made on that duel are null and void."

Hephaestus asked, "Does Zeus know about this?"

"I don't know." Hera answered.

The scene switched to Nathan in the temple. He was burning a mixture of sage and garlic.

"It doesn't matter how long it takes. One way or another, I will become the leader, once and for all." he said. "And once I have power, that evil witch will burn for her crimes!"

He laughed crazily to himself. The scene switched. Gwen walked into Reyna's chambers, gasping in horror. Her long black hair was in a ponytail. Her blue eyes tried to hold back tears. She wore black yoga pants and a purple t-shirt with the letters SPQR on it.

"Reyna... I can't believe this." Gwen said. "First the camp gets cursed twice in a row, then Frank leaves, then a miscarriage, and now this?!" She closed the door. "Nathan wants to seize power. I can't let him."

Then she got onto a giant eagle and took off into the sky. I woke up in a panic.

"It's about time you woke up." Percy said.

"Oh what time is it?" I asked.

"It's 12:50pm." Percy answered.

"We've almost got out campsite packed up." Jason said.

"We better get going." I said.

We packed up. Me and Percy rode on Blackjack while Jason rode the storm spirit Tempest. It took us four hours to get back to Camp Jupiter. The sun was already setting but we could still see that Nathan was running from Frank, Hazel and Leo.

"Stop him!" Hazel yelled.

"He's getting away!" Frank yelled.

"What's happening!?" Percy asked in a state of alarm.

"He stole Frank's stick!" Hazel answered.

"What?!" the three of us shouted in unison.

"Leo, extinguish all flame sources!" I ordered.

He immediately did so. Okay, it might sound silly that we're trying to stop Nathan from burning a piece of wood. But that piece of wood is tied to Frank's life force. If the wood burns completely, Frank dies. Frank kept that piece of wood in a fire-proof pouch that he kept with him at all times. How did Nathan get it? Jason called Piper as me and Percy joined Frank, Hazel, and Leo in trying to stop Nathan from seizing power.

"He's heading towards New Rome!" Frank exclaimed.

"Hazel, quickly, disarm all of us!" I ordered.

She did as I commanded so that Terminus wouldn't yell at us. As our weapons hit the ground only mere feet from the Pomerian Line, we pursued him into New Rome. He attempted to throw the wood in, but Leo distinguished the fire just in time.

"He's too fast!" Piper exclaimed. "Nathan, stop running!"

He didn't answer. He had really big headphones on and couldn't hear anything.

"He can't hear anything!" Percy exclaimed.

"Darn it!" she screamed.

Suddenly the earth shook violently. A crack formed without damaging any buildings.

"What's happening?!" I asked.

Gwen emerged from the crack in the ground.

"You shall not pass! You will not succeed in killing Frank for your own selfish purposes!" she yelled.

She knocked him down, took the stick and put the wood back in the fireproof pouch.

"Why are you doing this?!" she yelled.

"You ruined my chance to restore Camp Jupiter back to its glorious state!" Nathan yelled.

Gwen growled. Nathan threw Gwen into a wall. She screamed in agony.

"That is it!" she screamed.

Suddenly her eyes glowed black and a dozen skeletal warriors arose from the ground.

"She...she's a daughter of Pluto?!" I exclaimed.

"That's impossible. If she was descended from Pluto, I would have sensed something." Hazel said.

The skeletal warriors restrained Nathan by tying up up with rope. He growled and I saw a golden flash in his eyes. I gasped. He was being mind-controlled.

"I never thought I'd see the day..." Jason muttered under his breath.

"You're through Nathan!" Gwen said. "I will destroy you and drag you down to the Fields of Punishment myself!"

"No, I don't deserve it!" he exclaimed.

Nathan fell unconscious. "Gwen, stop!" I yelled. "You don't have to kill him!"

"Give me one reason to spare this terrible monster!" she yelled. I ran towards her, but her skeletal warriors threw me onto the ground. The sun had nearly set.

"Now what?!" I asked.

"Gwendolyn!" Jason yelled. "You don't have to do this! Please, stop. This isn't you!"

Gwen blinked her eyes and stopped glowing. Her skeletal warriors disappeared. "Oh no... I told myself I wouldn't do this again." she said. The demigod looked at the sky. The sun had set and it was nighttime. "But now there's no time left." She closed her eyes and extended her arm. A ball of blue light came forth and she caught it in a black gem on her bracelet. "I swore to myself that I would never do this, but now I've broken all of my promises in one day..."

"What happened?" I asked.

"Don't look at me! I'm a monster." Gwen told us.

"Gwen? Are you okay?" Piper asked.

"She's broken." Jason said. "She swore to herself that she would never use her powers or kill anyone, but now she has broken those vows."

"She killed someone?" Leo said.

"More like released their soul." Hazel answered. "But her death was inevitable."

The ball of light reappeared and turned into Reyna's ghost.

"Reyna..." Frank said.

"My demise was inevitable." she said. "Everything has fallen to pieces. It's no use trying to break the curse of Camp Jupiter."

Her spirit faded and disappeared back into Gwen's bracelet. She gave the pouch back to Frank and started bawling.

"Gwen... Should I...?" Jason began.

She looked at him. "Go on. They've already seen the darker side of me." she stated.

"Lieutenant of Hades, Reaper of Souls, all hail Gwendolyn Ishimaya, daughter of Thanatos." Jason said.


	15. Percy Takes the Helm

We stood there in the coldness of the Winter Solstice night.

"Thanatos? Wouldn't that be Letus?" I asked.

"Call him what you may, but us Romans let him stay Greek." Gwen answered. "Either way, I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster." I said. "You're just troubled."

"I'm a wicked witch to Nathan. I'm also cursed." she said.

"Cursed? How can you say that you're cursed?" Piper asked.

"The daughter of Death just suffered from a miscarriage mere days ago. I don't think that's a coincidence." Gwen said.

"You're not cursed." Hazel said. "Believe me, I know what that's like. I was cursed at one point in time."

Hazel told Gwen about how her powers to summon riches from the earth were selfishly used by her mother, Marie Levesque, to gain money and never face poverty. The sold diamonds gave curses to the buyers. Marie originally blamed Pluto, Hazel's father, for the curse, but in the end, she came to realize that it was her fault and that her daughter Hazel was the most precious treasure of all.

"So, you said this curse used to effect you. When was it broken?" Gwen asked.

"I was getting to that. Many years ago, Pluto told me that a descendant of Neptune would wash away my curse. When me, Frank and Percy went to Alaska to free Thanatos, I originally thought that Percy would break the curse as he's the son of Poseidon, but it turns out that I was wrong. During those days, I fell in love with Frank Zhang, a legacy of Neptune. According to Aphrodite, who visited me in my dreams the night we finished our quest, the curse was broken when me and Frank kissed for the first time." Hazel answered.

"Aw, how adorable." Gwen said. She smiled but it quickly faded. "If my husband knew the truth, he'd never accept me."

"Really? Who is he?" Percy asked.

"His name is Michael Kahale." Gwen answered. "You might remember him from your time at Camp Jupiter. Maybe you don't." She sighed. "Either way, we have a big problem on our hands."

"Let's see. Reyna's dead, Nathan's been corrupted into a power-hungry jerk, and we're out of leads on who framed Percy Jackson and stole the Golden Fleece." I said.

"Now Percy has to keep his promise." Jason said.

"How long can a single praetor rule over Camp Jupiter by themselves?" Leo asked.

"Usually, it's three months. When Jason disappeared, it was eight months. That's the longest amount of time a lone praetor ruled Camp Jupiter." Gwen answered.

"Looks like me and Frank are the rulers of a cursed camp." Percy stated.

"Percy..." I began.

"Unless we can restore Reyna, which is impossible, I have to take up the role as praetor." he said. "I can't turn my back on my fellow demigods."

"And what about Nathan?" Jason asked.

"I say we kill him." Gwen said.

"He tried to kill me." Frank said.

"He was terrible to Calypso." Leo mentioned.

"And he wanted my boyfriend dead." Hazel added.

"I don't think we should kill him. I saw a golden flash in his eyes. He was being mind controlled by the same force that corrupted my mother. We can't kill him for that." I said.

"I'm with Annabeth on this one." Percy stated.

"I don't know if killing Nathan would be the right thing to do." Jason said.

"Ditto." Piper chimed in.

"Well, we can't let Nathan just get away. He'll eventually try to kill Frank again." Leo said.

"You're right. But if we imprisoned him, people would get suspicious." I said.

"Wait a second. Won't people get suspicious if Percy takes Reyna's place without any explanation?" Frank asked.

"You're right." Leo said.

"We're in a catch 22 situation." Percy said.

Leo frowned. "We may as well just give up on finding that criminal."

"What? No, we... we can't give up!" I exclaimed.

I felt sadness radiate throughout the camp. What if he was right? What if it was pointless to continue searching?

"I'll deal with Nathan. Even though he may be corrupted, our rivalry is genuine." Gwen said.

"Gwendolyn, why do you hate Nathan so much?" Piper asked.

"It's a long story. In a nutshell, on the Day of Misfortune, Nathan discovered that I was a daughter of Thanatos. He blamed the invasion of the spirits on me and says that I should have done something to get them under control. Looking back on it, I believe he was right about the 2nd part. I should have done something. If I had, maybe we would not be in this situation that we are in today." Gwen answered.

"Hey uh, Gwen. I hope you don't mind me asking this, but... how far along were you in your pregnancy before... disaster struck?" I asked.

"Six weeks." she answered. "I better take care of the augur. I'll figure out a ruse."

Gwen left, carrying an unconscious Nathan in her arms, leaving the six of us in silence. I wanted to eat dinner, but suddenly I felt a loss of appetite. Percy had donned his Praetor cape. Gwen told everyone that Nathan was sick with tuberculosis, and that Reyna was on a long vacation with her sister Hylla. But in reality, Nathan was trapped in a bone cage guarded by three skeletal warriors day and night, and Reyna was dead. I felt stricken with sadness. We had no leads left, Camp Half Blood could soon fall and Camp Jupiter was cursed. After dinner, I was speaking to Piper who had her dagger unsheathed. Suddenly Katoptris showed an energy wave.

"A vision?" Piper asked. "I haven't seen a vision in this dagger in ages..."

We looked into the dagger. The sword showed us the Battle of the Labyrinth; a battle that took place at Camp Half-Blood. Several demigods were fighting monsters and enemy demigods. Castor, who was 17, was bravely fighting a young girl with black hair and blue eyes. She wore a red mini-skirt, black tank top with black combat boots. She had her helmet knocked off. She got out a dagger and slashed Castor in the arm. Then she used a sword to strike him down, and he was dead.

"Castor!" Pollux yelled.

The demigod laughed to herself and then disappeared.

"What was that about?" Piper asked.

I told her about the Battle of the Labyrinth and how we had nearly been defeated. Then I left New Rome, getting back my weapons after doing so. If no one was going to search for answers, then it was up to me. I packed up my gear and left for the Saint Fransisco Mountain Range. I had no idea what I expected to gain, but I hoped I would find something. And in the darkness of the night, I never felt so sad and alone.


	16. I Leave a Voicemail For My Dead Relative

I was in San Fransisco Mountain range. I walked upward, hoping to find something, but the truth was, I was just trying to escape the cursed camp. I looked at my phone, and then I remembered that Magnus called and left a voicemail. I sat down on a rock and set the backpack down. Then I started dialing him.

"Hey, this is Magnus Chase. I might be alive, maybe I'm not, but, leave a message and I'll see what I can't do." the custom-made response said. Beep.

"Hi, Magnus. It's me, Annabeth. A lot has happened within the last three days. I don't even know where to start... Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning. Three days ago, my mother accused Percy of a crime he never committed. He was accused of molesting me, but you and I both know this is not true at all. She challenged him to a duel the following day. However, several hours prior to the duel, Peleus was killed, the Golden Fleece was stolen, and now Camp Half Blood is constantly under attack from monsters because of the lack of protective borders around the camp. The duel between Athena and Percy ultimately ended in a draw, and Mars took her away to prevent another unnecessary battle.

"Before he dragged her away, we learned that Athena has been corrupted. The following day, we went to Russia, as we thought Khione was responsible for both the theft of the fleece and Athena's corruption, but we were wrong. She nearly killed us, but we defeated her. Afterwards, we learned why Khione now lives in Russia. Long story. And we learned that one of her bothers, Calais, was killed during his time as a human. Also long story. Shortly after we got back to Camp Half Blood via Hazel using shadow travel, we were dragged to Camp Jupiter. But a lot has happened in the last two years.

"Two years ago, on the Feast of Fortuna, malevolent spirits got loose and attacked the camp. No one could stop them and Camp Jupiter was cursed. Dakota was banished from Camp Jupiter forever and the curse caused all kinds of chaos. Eventually, Jason and Piper decided to leave because Piper had fallen into a depression and tried to kill herself. The following year, Frank and Reyna got into a big argument, which not only caused the curse to continue, but Frank left Reyna behind, taking his girlfriend Hazel as well. When we arrived at Camp Jupiter, Reyna was terribly sick and on the verge of death. Calypso fell ill with tuberculosis, left to interrogate Dakota, and is who knows where. Nathan, corrupted by the same force that mind controlled Athena, tried to kill Frank and now he's locked up. Now... Reyna is dead. Gwen is trying to cover up everything. So much has happened in only a short amount of time. Also, I'm pregnant with Percy's child, I almost forgot to mention. We're out of leads, and I have no idea what to do. If you have any helpful advice or just want to speak me, don't hesitate to call. For the first time in who knows how long, I don't know what to do. Stay safe, Magnus."

Okay, you're probably wondering why I'm referring to Magnus as a dead relative. Well, here's the thing. To me, he's not really dead. Maybe half-dead, but not like a ghost or a zombie. You see, several years ago, he faced an evil Norse mythology fire giant (I forgot his name) and he was killed in the process. He was found by a Valkyrie named Samirah al-Abbas (aka Sam) and he became an einherji. Einherjar are great heroes who died a brave death and are soldiers in Odin's eternal army who prepare for Ragnarok. They live in Hotel Valhalla, and if they are killed there, they will be resurrected within a certain period of time. If they die outside of Valhalla, they're dead and gone for good.

After I hung up, I felt so sad. I felt lost. I felt hopeless. I felt... powerless. Feeling powerless was a terrible feeling. I must have been insane. I soon came upon the ruins of Mount Othyrs, currently located in Mount Tamalpais. The Romans had destroyed this area, and if I looked hard enough, I'd find Atlas here, on the Mountain of Despair, forced to hold the weight of the sky for eternity. I found a lock of black hair and picked it up. It wasn't much, but it was something. I put it into a bag and put it into my backpack. Then I heard a faint groaning sound. I listened deeper. The moaning was in agony, and it sounded too familiar.

"Artemis!" I exclaimed. I started running and very quickly found the goddess chained to the rock. Again! "Artemis, what happened?!" I suddenly started crying.

The goddess looked at me. "Annabeth, what are you doing here?"

"It's.. it's a long story on that." I answered. "There's been so much chaos happening in the world, and we're out of suspects on who did the crimes."

"I've been living under a rock, as you mortals say, for six months, so I have no idea what's happening." Artemis said.

I gave her a brief summary of terrible events.

"This does not sound good at all." she said.

"Artemis, how did you get into this mess?" I asked.

"It's a long story. I saw a young maiden forced into holding the burden of the sky. How she got into it I don't know. She begged me for help, and I took the burden from her. Mere seconds later, Atlas came out of his hiding place. I learned that I had been tricked. The girl had been working with Atlas. Then both of us learned that the young girl was an immortal hunter of Artemis. She looked familiar but I couldn't recognize her." she answered.

"This girl. What did she look like?" I asked.

"She wore a black cloak with her hood down. She had black hair tied into a ponytail and light blue eyes. Her face radiated beauty, but she was truly wicked."

I looked at her sadly. "I hate to leave you like this..."

"You don't have a choice. You're in no condition to take on the burden of the sky." she said. "Not with you being pregnant with Percy's child."

"You know? Oh wait, of course you'd know." I said. "You're a patron of pregnant women and young children."

Artemis briefly smiled. "You're smart Wise Girl. Several people think Hera's the only one who deals with that, but she isn't."

Suddenly a rainbow formed, showing Percy. "Annabeth?" he asked. "Where have you been?!"

"I felt depressed with everything happening, so I left the camp, hoping to find something." I answered.

"And, the results?" he asked nervously.

"Look right in front of you." I answered.

He looked closer and then gasped. "Artemis is stuck holding the burden of the sky?! Again?!"

"Unfortunately." we answered in unison.

"How did this happen?" Percy asked.

I explained to him what Artemis told me. Percy had a grim look on his face. "I see. I'll tell the others. Stay there, I'll send someone to come and get you." He waved his hand through the connection, cutting it off. I took off my backpack and sat down. A few moments of silence (except for Artemis's groans in agony) passed by.

"Artemis, how long have you been stuck there?" I asked.

"Two days. I was watching the live broadcast of Athena's duel with Percy. I had bet 25 golden drachmas that Percy was going to win. I was scarred out of my mind when I saw you jump right in front of the lightning. Then I heard a voice from afar. The voice of the evil maiden. She said, "Artemis, please, help me. I've been tricked into holding the burden of the sky. I don't know how much longer I can take this. You won't let the sky fall... Please... Help me." I looked from afar and found the maiden chained to a rock. Atlas was nowhere to be found. I teleported to the Mountain of Despair, and took the maiden's place." Artemis said. "I wish I had known it was a trap. Who knows what Atlas is doing now?"

Hazel then appeared. "Your carriage awaits, your highness." she said to me. She saw Artemis. "Oh Diana, I feel very bad for you."

Artemis shifted into her Roman form of Diana. "This is all my fault. When this happened the first time eight years ago, I knew it was a trap, but I feared Annabeth would die under the strain, so I took the burden from her. This time, I had no idea that the young maiden was an evil immortal mastermind."

"Come Annabeth. We must get back to the accursed camp." Hazel said.

I took her hand and we shadow-traveled to Camp Jupiter. Hazel took us to the Garden of Bacchus, where the other five demigods and Gwen had been waiting for us. Hazel dropped to her knees and put her hands onto the ground.

"Hazel, are you okay?" I asked.

"She's trying to prevent herself from fainting." Frank explained.

"I'm surprised she didn't fall unconscious." I remarked.

"Well, the probability of fainting depends on three factors; how much experience you have, how far you're traveling, and who or what you are trying to transport. It's a lot easier to teleport only the two of us to a nearby place as opposed to transporting eight of us to Russia and back." Hazel answered. "Anyway, back on topic. We now have a lead on who corrupted Athena."

"But all we know is that the evil maiden tricked Artemis." Jason said. "She may not have taken the Golden Fleece or corrupted Athena or any other of the victims."

"Are you so sure? All of these events, these tragedies, they seem to be linked together. It's like this really big web of chaos and the corrupted victims are the flies caught in this web." I said.

"Honestly Annabeth, you're crazy." Frank said.

"Why do you not believe me?!" I yelled.

"Annabeth's not crazy. She's right."


	17. Gwen Makes a Grave Deal

We turned around and saw Hecate. The goddess of magic wore a long purple dress with a strap on her right shoulder. Her hair was black and put into a braid. She wore a silver key around her neck on a black silk cord. Her eyes were blue and she wore a bracelet with a pentagram on her right wrist, while she had a waxing crescent moon bracelet on her left wrist.

"Lady Hecate." Hazel said. We all bowed down to her in respect. "What brings you here?"

"I came to tell you some important information, and to give you a warning." she answered. "Annabeth is right on all the disasters being linked to one other. However, the evil maiden you seek is a very dangerous person. I do not know much about her, not even her own name, but I do know that she is very powerful."

"Powerful? And how is this so?" I asked.

"She can use both the mist and magic to her advantage. But she is no daughter of mine, so how this is possible, I do not know. If and when you encounter her, be very careful." Hecate warned. "And Gwen." Her eyebrows raised at the mention of her name. "I know what you seek to do, but, are you aware of the price that you must pay? Do you know what risks you are taking?"

"I am well aware of the risks, oh powerful Queen of Ghosts, but it's my fault that the Curse of Camp Jupiter formed, and therefore, it's my fault that Reyna died. I would risk everything to set things right." Gwen answered.

Her face turned into a sad yet stern expression. "Very well then. I will not try to stop you, but be careful. I wish you good luck on your quest."

The goddess disappeared. We turned towards Gwen. "Quest? What quest?" Jason asked.

"Well..." Gwen stuttered. "Here's the thing... I feel responsible for Reyna's death, so the reason I collected her soul is so that I could try and resurrect her."

We all gasped. "But how are you going to do that?" Leo asked.

"You don't even know the cause of her death." Percy said.

"I was never able to determine the cause while she was alive, but now that she's dead I know exactly what killed her; Pylosian Mint." she said.

"Pylosian Mint? Wasn't that one of the ingredients used in the Physician's Cure?" I asked.

Frank smiled. "Yes it was."

"Hecate said you would face risks if you went on the quest. What are those risks?" Piper asked.

Gwen was about to answer, when suddenly a black-winged and black cloaked figure swooped down. We were scared, but Gwen did not tremble.

"Who... who are you?" Leo asked.

The figure took off his hood, revealing him as Thanatos.

"Th...Thanatos?" Percy asked.

He turned towards Gwen. "What, no warm welcome?" he asked. "That kinda hurts ya know."

"What are you doing here?" Gwen asked, gritting her teeth.

"You should know. You plan on resurrecting Reyna, and I can't let you do that. Hand her over to me." he ordered.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No. I'm not going to hand her spirit over to you. Reyna didn't deserve her fate."

"Death is not about being fair."

"It's my fault that she died! I can't let Frank and Percy be the praetors of a cursed camp when there's an evil maiden causing the death of a dragon, the corruption of a goddess and the theft of a very valuable item!" she panted. "It's all my fault that Camp Jupiter is cursed, and I'm going to make things right."

"You have a lot of nerve." Thanatos said.

"Gwen, are you crazy?! He could kill you!" Jason exclaimed.

"He wouldn't kill her, would he? Gwen's his daughter." Piper said.

She sighed. "You don't get it, do you? Like Saturn, Thanatos cares nothing about his children." Gwen remarked.

Percy harbored a perplexed expression on his face. "Saturn?"

"Better known to us Greeks as Kronos." I answered.

"Speaking of which, didn't you four," Gwen said, pointing to me, Percy, Piper and Leo, "actually face him in the Battle of Manhattan?"

"Not quite." Leo answered. "The Battle of Manhattan took place before me and Piper ever found out that we were demigods."

"And even then, his powers were limited. He took on the host of a man named Luke Castellan. He was very close to regaining his true Titan form, but me and Percy managed to stop him before he could destroy Olympus. Luke killed himself at the last minute, and Kronos was scattered, hopefully so thin that he'll never reform or be conscious ever again." I answered.

"Anyway, back to the subject at hand. You can't just go resurrecting unfortunate victims!" Thanatos exclaimed.

"It's not just about her! It's about everyone at Camp Jupiter!" Gwen exclaimed. "Do you know how many people have died before and during the Curse of Camp Jupiter?!"

"Of course I do. 13 victims. What do you take me for, a fool?!"

"NO! I don't!"

"Aren't you scared of death? Of me?"

"Timor mortis ne conturbat me."

Thanatos was left speechless.

"What did she just say?" Piper asked.

"The fear of death does not confound me." Jason answered.

"Isn't it supposed to be timor mortis conturbat me?" Leo asked.

"That's 'the fear of the death confounds me.'" I answered. "Gwen is not afraid of dying. Or her father."

"So you're not afraid of death? Well, you should be." Thanatos answered.

"Wait. I propose a challenge." Gwen said. "If I can resurrect Reyna by curing her body of her sickness within one month, you let her stay alive. If I fail, you can take my soul."

We all gasped. "Gwen, you can't be serious!" I exclaimed.

"Hmm. This is a most interesting proposition. And what do you want from me if you should actually win?" Thanatos asked.

"Well, there is something that I want, but, I don't think it is within your power." Gwen answered.

"And what might that be?"

"Well, you probably know that I recently suffered a miscarriage. I was thinking that, one day, after I've recovered, I would actually be able to conceive and give birth to a strong healthy child." She looked away sadly. "But it's not possible."

"Hmm... It could be done, perhaps, not easily. But either way, you're bound to die on this mission. Should you survive, I'll see what can be done." Thanatos said. "Good luck. You're gonna need it."

He disappeared in black smoke. "Gwen, do you realize what you've gotten yourself into?" Jason asked.

"Yes, but even if I should die and I succeed in saving Reyna, then my death will not be in vain." she answered.

Gwen walked off, leaving us there in silence.


	18. I Wouldn't Want to Be in Her Shoes

"Uh, guys, don't we have a mission to focus on?" Percy asked.

"Yes, but we still don't know very much about the evil maiden." Hazel answered.

Leo yawned. "Also, it's very late. We need some sleep."

"You're right. We continue our hunt tomorrow." I said.

We got some apartments in New Rome and I immediately fell asleep. Once again, my dreams were not nice to me. I saw a black cloaked figure roaming the ruins of Mount Othyrs. They walked up the Mountain of Despair to where Atlas was chained.

"A visitor? I haven't had company in nearly a decade. What are you doing here? Did you come to taunt me?" he asked.

"I did not come here to taunt you, Atlas, but rather to assist you." a feminine voice answered. "I have a plan to free you from your punishment."

"What exactly is your plan?"

"To force Artemis into holding the weight of sky."

He looked at her skeptically. "I tried that several years ago, but I was eventually forced back into taking the burden again."

"I assure you; this time it will work."

"You're really willing to take the burden of the sky? Just who are you anyway?"

The maiden took down her hood, revealing her long black hair and blue eyes. "I am just a mortal girl. Bear in mind, Atlas, if you try to betray me like you did with Hercules, I know a friend of mine who can take the burden, and I will find you and force you back into your punishment."

Atlas remained calm. "Alright, what's the plan?"

"After I take the burden, I'll mentally pray to Artemis. You will stay in this area and hide behind that pile of rocks. She'll take the burden, after which you'll reveal yourself, and then we continue on forward."

"Alright. Let's do it."

She entangled herself in the chains and Atlas got up. The maiden groaned in agony, then breathed in, and out. I heard her say the words in her mind: _Artemis, please, help me. I've been tricked into holding the burden of the sky. I don't know how much longer I can take this. You won't let the sky fall... Please... Help me._

Sometime later, Artemis teleported to the bottom of the Mountain of Despair. She ran up and saw the maiden.

"Young lady, are you alright?"

"Yes. Please hurry. Take this weight off my shoulders, please!"

Artemis willingly took the burden and the maiden got up. "Thank you, Lady Artemis."

"How did you get into this? Did Atlas trick you?"

The maiden smirked. "No. I tricked you." she answered. Atlas came out from behind his hiding place and Artemis gasped. "See? I told you this would work."

"You tricked me! How could..." she gasped again. For a brief moment, she could see a faint silver aura. The aura of her hunters. "You're... you're a hunter?!"

"Indeed. I am a hunter. You thought I perished long ago, but you were wrong." she answered.

Atlas turned towards the maiden. "You're a Hunter of Artemis?! You lied to me!"

"But I lied for good reason. If you knew I was an immortal, you would have left me to suffer your curse for eternity." she retorted.

"Who... who are you?!" Artemis lashed out in anger.

"That matters not. Now then, we need to move on to the next part of the plan." she said, before turning to Atlas. "Let's get going now, shall we?"

The two teleported away, and then the scene switched. Nathan was seen in the cage of bones. He was on his knees, almost as if he was praying.

 _I can't believe that I failed._ _I was supposed to kill Frank, and I failed miserably._ _Forgive me, Mistress._

 _You may have failed there, but at the same time, Reyna is now dead. Meaning that Percy will take her place._

 _I'm trying to become the Praetor of Camp Jupiter. Now I'm trapped in a cage of bones._

 _This is only a temporary setback. Percy and Frank don't want to stay at Camp Jupiter, and the Praetors have to stay here to prevent damage to Camp Jupiter because of the curse. If one of them leaves, you can take their place.  
_

 _You may be right. Where is Gwen?_

 _I do not know, but this does not matter to us. She can not stop us.  
_

The scene switched to Gwen. She was rocketing through the underground at very fast speeds. She wasn't exactly shadow traveling, but she still moved rapidly. Eventually, a crack formed and she arose from the ground. She stood in Seattle, and walked into the Amazon compound. Two guards formed an X over the door with their spears.

"Halt! Who goes there?" asked the first guard.

"Gwendolyn Ishimaya. I wish to speak to your Queen, Hylla Ramirez-Arellano." she answered.

"Are you from Camp Jupiter?" the second one asked.

"Yes. I have come here on behalf of her sister, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano."

The first one looked at the second one skeptically, then turned back to Gwen. "Very well. You may enter, but we are watching your every move. If you say or do one wrong thing, you will be thrown into the dungeons."

Gwen walked forward. Eventually, she found Hylla. She was sitting on a golden throne, sipping tea.

"Queen Hylla, may I have a moment of your time?"

The queen arose and smiled upon seeing her. "Gwendolyn, I remember you. Please, sit. Have some tea."

Gwen sat down on a wooden stool. "Hylla, do you know anything about Pylosian Mint, more specifically, a cure for it?"

"Not really. I believe the Golden Fleece would be able to cure it, but I heard a terrible rumor that the Golden Fleece was stolen."

"That rumor is true, unfortunately. Some evil maiden has been up to no good. Percy and his friends are trying to stop that said evil."

"Why aren't you with them?" Hylla asked.

"Because I'm on a mission of my own. I have good news, bad news, worse news, and horrible news. The bad news is that Reyna is dead." Gwen answered. Hylla gasped. "The worse news is that no one, except for the seven demigods and me, knows of Reyna's death, or Nathan's current whereabouts. The good news, is that I have a chance to resurrect Reyna. The horrible news, is that I have only a month to do it."

"Oh." she said. "And what happens if you fail?"

"Never mind that. Can you help me?"

"I know nothing about Pylosian Mint, but I do know someone who does. Speak to Circe, daughter of Hecate, the goddess of magic. Since you are a girl, she will be kind to you. But do not bring any men there, otherwise they will be turned into guinea pigs."

"Guinea pigs? Why guinea pigs?"

Hylla shrugged. She then got out a scroll of parchment. "This is a map to C.C's Spa and Resort." She placed a purple pin on the map towards the tip of the triangle. "That is where Circe is. It may take a long time to get there. C.C's Spa and Resort is located in the Sea of Monsters, which in today's modern society, is in the Bermuda Triangle, off the coast of Florida. Getting there will not be an easy task."

Gwen hung her head in defeat. "Figures. There two entrances to the Sea of Monsters. One is surrounded by Scylla and Charybdis. The other is Clashing Rocks. Both of which have a low chance of survival."

"But there is a way to avoid them." Hylla said. Gwen lifted her head. "There's a third entrance. It's known of by so few people. It'll take longer to get to C.C's Spa and Resort, but it's a thousand times safer. You must first go to the Bahamas. After you reach the shores of the Bahamas, acquire a small boat, like no larger than a fishing boat. You must then sail out to sea. If you use a smaller boat, the monsters are less likely to notice you. Circe's Island is located closer to the top of the triangle, and it would increase your travel time by several days. I wish you best of luck on your journey."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Gwen said, bowing before Hylla.

I woke up, feeling dizzy upon standing. I tried to shake it off and joined the others for brunch.


	19. Percy Meets An Old Enemy

We had a lead on who was responsible for the crimes, but we weren't sure how to find her. We knew very little of our enemy.

"She could be anywhere by now." Piper said. "I never thought I'd say this, but, I wish my dagger showed me more visions."

"She has the ability to teleport just like the gods." I added.

"I must stay here for a while to prevent suspicion. Can you do it without me?" Frank asked.

"I think so." I said. "We'll be in touch."

Me, Percy, Piper, Jason, Hazel and Leo left Camp Jupiter for New York City. It was cold and the snow was heavy, but I had an idea that maybe one of the maiden's victims would lead her back to us.

"Now, how are we going to go about finding the victim we saw three days ago?" Leo asked.

"I think her name was Sandy. And... I have no idea." I answered.

We walked around New York for nearly two hours, but we found nothing. Me and Piper collapsed onto the bench.

"This is hopeless." Hazel stated, who was awake but weary.

"We are getting nowhere." Percy stated.

"What do you mean, nowhere? You got yourselves here." said a familiar voice.

"Coach Hedge!" Jason exclaimed. "Long time, no see!"

The satyr smiled. "What brings you guys here? Where are Frank and Calypso?"

"Long story." I answered. "Listen, we need your help finding a mortal girl named Sandy. Can you help us?"

"You say she's a human. If she were a demigod, she would be easier to find." Gleeson answered. "What does this Sandy girl look like?"

"She was wearing jean shorts and a red hooded jacket paired with blue sneakers." I answered.

"I got a perfect description. She's right over there."

He pointed to his left and found Sandy close a fountain. She had her phone in her pocket. Percy looked at her. "So that's San... Wait a second... She looks familiar, but she can't be Nancy Bobofit."

"Who's Nancy Bobofit?" Coach Hedge asked.

"An old enemy of mine." Percy answered. "Long before I discovered I was a demigod, she was my worst rival, and always picked on me and Grover. Since then, I've encountered much worse foes."

"Patricia! Patricia!" a voice exclaimed.

"That's Nancy Bobofit." Percy answered.

Nancy Bobofit had long red hair in a ponytail, neatly brushed. Her teeth were straighter and she wore a grey headband in her hair. She wore a pair of black boots with a purple dress, black tights and a black fur coat.

"Patricia!" she exclaimed, upon seeing Sandy.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Sandy asked.

"Patricia, don't you remember? It's me, Nancy, your big sister!"

"I don't remember you."

"What?! But... how can this be?"

"She has amnesia." I answered. "She introduced herself to us as Sandy."

"Her name is Patricia Bobofit, and she's my little sister. What happened to her?"

"How do we put this in the best way?" Percy asked. "She lost her memory and someone has used it to her advantage."

"Percy Jackson?" Nancy asked.

"Long time no see." he said. "Nice to see you too."

We looked towards Sandy, or Patricia, then back at Nancy.

"So Sandy... or Patricia... has been missing for how many days?" Piper asked.

"Four days." Nancy answered.

"Four days... That's when the five of us plus Frank, saw her for the first time." Jason remarked.

"You're right." Piper said.

"This does not seem like a mere coincidence..." I said. "She's one of the maiden's victims."

Nancy scratched her head. "Huh?"

"Nancy, your sister's boss is really dangerous. We're on a mission to find her and stop her."

"Oh give it up, foolish heroes." Patricia spoke.

Suddenly her eyes flashed gold. Nancy was suddenly knocked out.

"You'll never find the one you seek." she continued. "The Deceiver of the Gods is far too clever, and far too powerful for you and your pathetic friends to face."

"We will find your boss, one way or another." Percy grabbed her by the collar. "Where is she?"

Patricia chuckled to herself. She answered, "You'll never find her. She's moving constantly. Soon her plans will come to fruition!" She laughed and threw a smoke bomb. We coughed and by the time the smoke vanished, Patricia was gone. Nancy woke up.

"Where's Patricia?" Nancy asked.

"She vanished." Hazel answered.

"I better get going then." Nancy said.

She ran off, continuing to look for her lost sister.

"What did she mean by her plans?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know, but it can't be good." Leo said.

"We better call Frank and tell him what we've learned." I said.

Hazel dialed Frank on her phone for a videochat. He was speaking with his grandmother.

"Are you sure you guys can handle all of this?" she asked.

"Pretty sure." Frank answered. He turned to us. "Oh hi guys. What have you guys learned?"

"We learned that Sandy, the girl we saw right before the Clash of the Century duel, is actually a human girl named Patricia Bobofit, the younger sister of Nancy Bobofit. A few moments ago, she came possessed and told us that we would never find her boss, The Deceiver of the Gods. She also said that she has plans." answered.

"The maiden's plans? What does she mean by that?" Frank asked.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, we have to stop it." I said.

Percy looked baffled. "But what could that possibly be?"

"I'll meet you back at Camp Jupiter." Frank said. He hung up.

"Let's get going." I said, looking at Hazel. She yawned.

"Hazel, are you ok?" Leo asked.

"I'll be fine." she answered.

Coach Hedge looked at her skeptically. "Well, good luck guys. If you ever need assistance, you know who to call." he said.

Once again, Hazel transported us to Camp Jupiter. Afterwards, she collapsed in Frank's arms again. Frank was already there waiting for us.

"Is Nathan locked up?" Percy asked.

"He should be. Gwen's skeletons are guarding him day and night." Frank answered.

"If Nathan escapes, do you think the evil maiden will force him to try and kill Frank again?" I asked.

"Almost certainly. He wants power and is willing to do anything to get it." Jason answered.

Suddenly Michael Kahale appeared. "Ah, Frank and Percy. I was looking for you."

"What's the matter?" Percy asked.

"I have a question for you actually," he said. "Why is Nathan locked up in a cage of bones?"


	20. My Friends Are Facing Impending Doom

Frank stayed silent. Percy stuttered. He had no idea what to say.

"It's a long story." I said for him.

"And where is Gwen?" Michael asked.

"She's on a quest." Leo answered.

"A quest? For what? After a miscarriage? And all by herself?! What is she thinking?!" Michael asked.

"Slow down!" Piper commanded. "I know you must have a million questions, but..." She sighed. "There is no easy way to put it."

Michael looked at her, confused and sad. "What do you mean?"

"We've been speaking with Gwen over the last few days." Frank said. "For starters, Gwen is a daughter of Thanatos, but she is not evil. She didn't want to be hated or feared by others because of her power, which is why she never uses it or speaks of it."

"However, she feels very bad because Nathan knows of her powers over necromancy and admonished her for not doing anything on the Day of Misfortune. She believes he is right, and for that reason, feels responsible for the Curse of Camp Jupiter. When Reyna was on the verge of death, she released her soul and collected it to prevent her father from taking her to the Underworld. Now Gwen seeks to restore Reyna, but if she fails to complete the task within a month, she'll die." Hazel answered.

"Gwen... Why didn't she tell me any of this?" Michael asked.

"She was scared to do so. She hides her true feelings, and her powers from everyone." Leo answered. "I can sympathize with her."

"Before she knew of her godly parentage, Gwen desperately wanted to know who her father was. Once she found out the truth, she was never the same." Jason said.

Suddenly, we got an Iris-message from Malcolm. "Annabeth, I'm so glad you were able to respond."

I asked him, "Any good news?"

"There's good news, bad news and worse news." he answered. "The good news is that Lou Ellen Blackstone has managed to recreate the border around Camp Half Blood. The bad news, is that it won't last forever. The worse news, Lamia has returned and is trying to destroy Lou Ellen."

"Oh dear... How long do you think Lou's protection will last?" Jason asked.

"I don't know. She has to add energy to it constantly and it is immensely draining. According to Chiara Benvenuti, she never sleeps and she hardly eats anything. She's been holding up the barrier since last night. Usually there is one person watching over her. In the day time, it's Chiara. In the night, she is protected by Valentina Diaz. Occasionally, she gets visitors."

"Are the others aware of the fact that Lou Ellen can not protect the camp forever?" Piper asked.

Malcolm paused. "We had thought about telling the others, but we didn't want to create a feeling of dread."

"But wouldn't that create panic once the barrier falls?" Percy asked.

"That's what Albert said." Malcolm answered. "But the few that know that Lou Ellen's barrier won't last promised to Chiron not to say anything. It's possible that Lou Ellen could die from the strain of protecting us. If she doesn't die from overusing her power, then she could easily be killed by Lamia. She's waiting right outside Camp Half Blood, gathering other monsters. She is a very powerful monster and sorceress."

We gulped. Percy said, "That is bad. Extremely bad."

"I hope you guys find the Golden Fleece. This may very well be the end of Camp Half-Blood." Malcolm said.

"Do know what you will do if and when the barrier falls?" I asked.

"We do. Me, Eric, Albert, Henrietta, Lou, Chiara, Valentina and Ellis Wakefield all discussed the emergency back up plan in a private meeting with Chiron. Should the barrier fall, Chiara or Valentina will blow a very loud war horn three times to alert everyone." he answered. "Everyone who isn't terribly sick, injured, comatose or dead will fight against any invading monsters."

"I wish you luck. And um, Malcolm, can I ask you to do me a favor?" I asked.

"Certainly. What is it?"

"If you find a Hunter of Artemis with black hair and blue eyes other than Thalia Grace, notify me immediately and give me as many details as you can."

"Um, okay. I can do that."

"Malcolm, where are you? There's another meeting!" Albert shouted off-screen.

"I better go. I'll see you later." Malcolm said.

He waved his hand through the rainbow cutting off the connection.

"Which camp is in worse shape? Camp Jupiter or Camp Half-Blood?" Leo said.

"That is a very good question." I remarked. "One that can not easily be answered."

"Look on the bright side, whoever this evil maiden is, she has no idea that we're onto her." Percy said.

"If we're gonna find this evil maiden, we're going to need some help." I said.

I sent a text to Magnus that read, _Hey, Magnus. Can you do me a favor?_ After this, we went back to Reyna's quarters. In a room separate from Reyna, Nathan was locked in a cage of bones. His eyes were closed, and he looked as if he was in a meditative position with his arms at his sides.

"Is he awake?" Jason whispered.

"Doesn't look like it." Leo answered quietly.

"Do you think he's contacting his boss?" Frank asked.

"It's possible." Percy muttered.

I felt a bad feeling. A familiar cold chill. But where was it coming from? It was the same as the watch. Then I remembered facing Luke/Kronos on Mount Olympus. I remembered seeing Kronos attacking Mount-Olympus. He was very close regaining his true form, and Mount Olympus was on the verge of being destroyed. I had nearly fallen off Olympus, but Percy pulled me back up. Mount Olympus was shaking, falling apart. Shortly after, a white marble temple with a gold dome (dedicated to Artemis) suddenly blew up into pieces. The archway crumbled. Me and Percy were about to be crushed to death by a statue of Hera, but Thalia pushed both of us out of the way.

"Thalia!" Grover cried.

Her legs were pinned under the statue. It was no use trying to move it. We didn't want to leave her there, but we had no choice. The three of us followed him in a desperate attempt to stop him. As I ran, I felt, an aura... an aura of chaos. Of chaos, destruction, darkness and impending doom. The aura around the watch Frank had found was similar somehow...

"Annabeth?" Percy asked, jarring me back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, I was lost in a flashback." I said.

The door to Nathan's prison room of bones had been closed. That idea was crazy. Kronos had been defeated, scattered. Nothing was left of him but several tiny pieces of his essence. So what was that bad feeling? And why couldn't I just dismiss this bad feeling as if it was nothing?


	21. I See a Ship Get Destroyed By a Crab

The rest of the day passed by slowly. After eating dinner, I got back a text from Magnus saying, _What do you need me to do?_

 _We have some valuable information about the evil maiden who stole the Golden Fleece and did all those other crimes. I need you to be on the lookout for a girl with long black hair and blue eyes. If you find a girl like that (aside from Thalia Grace-you know what she looks like) please tell me and give me as many details as you can.  
_

 _Two questions. 1. Is that all that you know? 2. Should I get my friends involved?_

 _We don't know very much about her. According to Hecate, she can use both the Mist and magic to her advantage, despite not being one of her children. She's also a rogue hunter of Artemis. Any help finding the evil maiden would be nice, but I can't ask you or your allies to confront her. The Queen of Ghosts has warned us that she's highly dangerous and I can't ask you to fight my battles._

 _Very well then. I'll see what I can't do._

After that, I spent the rest of the evening pacing around Camp Jupiter. Partially for some low level exercise and partially because I felt nervous. Why did I feel like this? I then realized the answer; I felt a terrible dread in the pit of my stomach. Camp Half-Blood is on the verge of destruction, an unnamed evil maiden is running around causing a lot of chaos and the fate of Camp Jupiter rests in Gwen's hands. If she fails, she will die and this camp will be cursed... Possibly forever. The thought scared me. I tried sleeping, but I had a hard time falling asleep that night. When I finally did sleep, my dreams were not very pleasant.

Gwen stood on a (somewhat) large fishing boat with two tiers. Unlike Clarisse, she had no crew and was completely by herself. I was surprised she didn't have undead soldiers like Clarisse did, especially since the former is the daughter of the death god. Then I saw the entire ship. She did have a skeletal crew, but it was a lot smaller than Clarisse's crew on the CSS Birmingham. There was one guy manning the engine on the fishing boat. There were only two other skeletal warriors, standing on the lookout for anything dangerous. Gwen looked at the map, looking at the tip of the triangle. There was a purple pin towards the tip. That's where C.C.'s Spa and Resort was located.

"Continue northeast. We must reach that island." Gwen ordered. She summoned another skeletal soldier. "Go down to the engine room and help your friend man the engine."

The skeletal soldier left the deck and went down below to the engine room. Gwen nervously paced the deck. She had several reasons to be nervous. For one thing, she was on a dangerous quest in one of the most dangerous seas to both humans and demigods alike, Roman demigods usually feared the sea. Suddenly a huge monster appeared. Gwen gasped. Karkinos emerged from the water. She instantly summoned more skeletons with weapons to fight the monster.

"Attack!" she commanded.

She folded up the map, put it in her pocket, and started ordering her crew to attack in various ways. Some soldiers charged towards the crab only to be tossed aside into the water. Some tossed their weapons at it. Unfortunately, the monster (which was about the size of her ship), began to crush the ship with its huge pincers. Gwen threw her gladius at the monsters eye, hoping it would go away. Sadly, that made things worse. The crab took off pieces of the ship and started eating them. The ship began crumbling and falling apart. Shortly after her skeletons managed to slay the monster, the entire ship was destroyed. Gwen swam away. Eventually, after swimming for several miles, she slowed down and stopped, kicking her legs to keep herself from drowning.

I knew that several monsters could appear, including; the Trojan Sea Monster, Sirens, Sea Serpents, the Skolopendra (aka what the Argo II Crew called Shrimpzilla), evil cyclopes (like Polyphemus), and who knows what else. Gwen looked at her bracelet. It was very tight around her wrist. She then resumed swimming.

 _I know I can't lose the bracelet, but... I still fear losing something. And it's not my own life._

 _I still can't believe you're doing this._

 _Oh Reyna. You're awake._

 _Of course I am. I can't believe you challenged your own father, who happens to be the god of death, to a race against time. You realize you're insane, right?_

 _I do, but that doesn't change anything. You never knew that I was the daughter of Thanatos while you were alive, but on the Day of Misfortune, Nathan discovered my powers and my parentage. He blamed the invasion of the spirits and Curse of Camp Jupiter on me. In hindsight, I believe he's right about the curse. I didn't use my necromancy abilities because I was too scared. I was scared of what everyone would think of me, especially Michael, who was my fiance at the time. Now my powers might be the only thing that can save you, me and the entire camp._

 _And no one else knew the truth about you before the winter solstice?_

 _Jason knew. He saw my claiming, and he swore on the Styx not to tell a soul without my permission._

Suddenly a loud shriek was heard. _Oh no..._

Gwen stopped in her tracks. _What's happening?!_

The shrieks grew in ever-increasing volume. I woke up in alarm. What just happened? I decided to keep this dream to myself until I knew for sure. I got up, got dressed and joined the others for breakfast.


	22. I Think I've Lost My Mind

As we ate our breakfast, we tried to figure out where the evil maiden could be hiding.

"Okay, whoever this maiden is, she's very hidden. She hardly reveals herself to anyone. If we want to find her, we should go somewhere no person would ever want to be found." I suggested. "Perhaps the desert."

"Which one? There are several deserts in the world." Jason remarked.

"Let's see, there's the Sahara, Sonoran, Mojave, Kalahari, Atacama, Arabian, Namib and several others I could name." I said.

"She could be anywhere." Piper said, drinking some orange juice.

"Maybe she's in the U.S." Percy suggested, eating his blue waffles.

"The only place on Earth we know she's been would be Mount Tamalpais. So maybe she's set up her headquarters in this country." Hazel said.

"That still leaves a lot of land to cover." Frank said.

Suddenly a camper came running up to our table. "Praetor Percy, I hate to disturb you, but we got big trouble." he said.

Percy stood up. "What's the issue?"

"Marcus has gone completely insane! He's trying to kill everyone and release some guy trapped in bones?"

"Oi vey. I better deal with this before this gets out of hand."

He took the bacon from his plate and left the table.

"Do you think he's being controlled?" Leo asked, referring to Marcus.

"Possibly. Anyway, moving on..." Frank stated.

"We have to find her. I suggest that we start with Death Valley." I said.

"Death Valley? Sounds like a massive graveyard." Hazel commented.

I answered, "No, Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California. It's one of the hottest places in the world in the summertime, although right now in the wintertime, it actually isn't so unbearable."

"Isn't it also a national park?" Piper asked.

"I was just about to mention that, but you beat me to it." I said.

Jason looked at me like I was crazy. "They get several tourists each year. How could an evil maiden and her friend hide there?"

Hazel pondered to herself. "Hecate did tell us that she can manipulate the Mist. Maybe she's using it to hide herself in plain slight."

"So why exactly is it called Death Valley?" Leo asked.

"To be honest, I don't really know." I said. "I never bothered to question the meaning of its name."

Later on, the six of us went to Death Valley. We got our gear and went out. We stood at the lobby of the Furnace Creek Airport, discussing our plans.

"Let's split up. Death Valley is a pretty big place. Frank, Jason, Leo, go northwest, following Furnace Creek. Me, Piper and Hazel will go southeast after passing Hell's Gate. Good luck to you both. Call us if you encounter trouble." I said.

We went our separate ways. Even in the wintertime, it was still very warm. The three of us roamed through the desert for at least two hours, but we still hadn't found the evil maiden. We stopped at Badwater Basin, which was the lowest point in Death Valley.

"This is hopeless. I'm convinced that she's not here." Hazel complained.

"Maybe I was wrong." I said. "Why am I so very wrong these days?"

Piper pulled out her dagger, which started to glow. "I'm seeing another vision."

"Yes! Maybe it'll show where the maiden's liar is." Hazel said.

The dagger showed the same girl who killed Castor with Luke/Kronos and Ethan Nakamura on the Princess Andromeda.

"She's a powerful one, my lord." Ethan said.

Through the eyes of Luke, Kronos looked at her. "You seem familiar. Have I seen you before?"

"I do not believe so." she answered.

"Do you know who your godly parent is?" Kronos asked.

"No, I don't." she said, remaining calm.

"She has great magic powers. Maybe she is a child of Hecate?" Ethan suggested.

"She is no daughter of mine, but I'll take her in." Hecate said, appearing on the ship. "Tell me, metaphorical daughter of mine, what is your name?"

"I'm Tiana." she answered.

Hecate smiled. "Well, Tiana. You're part of the Titan Army now. Together, we will overthrow the Olympians."

"They will fall and they will regret underestimating the minor gods and their descendants!" Tiana exclaimed.

Later on, Tiana leaned against the railing of the ship. She looked at the pocketwatch she had in her hand.

 _I know who you really are, Tiana. Keep quiet about your true powers until I claim victory._

 _Yes, my lord._

The vision ended, leaving us in disappointment.

"Well, that told us absolutely nothing." Piper said.

Hazel frowned. "I agree." She sighed. "Come on, we better get going."

We continued through the desert. As we walked, I couldn't but think that vision, plus the previous one about Tiana killing Castor, was somehow important. Everything felt like an enormous jigsaw puzzle. It was up to us to solve it.

"Oh dear, are you lost?" a woman asked.

We looked towards the toward of the voice. It belonged to an overweight woman in a blue dress. Her eyes were blue yet looked somewhat snake-like for a second. Or was that just an illusion? She had a chihuahua on a blue leash in her right hand.

"No, we're looking for something. We fear we may not find it." Piper answered.

"What exactly are you looking for?" she asked.

Hazel touched her fingers to her chin. "How do we explain this in the best way?" She paused for a second. "We're looking a for deserted place, like an abandoned fortress or hideout."

"You're trying to find a place to hide?" she asked.

"No, we're trying to find someone who is hiding." I answered. "Just who are you anyway?"

"Why are you asking me that? The question is, will you survive this trial?"

Her form changed. She was now a woman with a snake tail on the bottom, her tongue was forked and she bared her fangs towards us. Her dog's form also changed. The dog now had the head of a lion, the body of a goat and a snake-headed tail from its behind.

"Echidna." I answered. "And her daughter the Chimera."

"You're a smart one, Annabeth Chase. But brains can only get you so far." Echidna commented. She turned towards the Chimera. "Attack!"

The Chimera breathed fire in my direction.

"Watch out!" Piper exclaimed, pushing me out of the way. Her hair was partially burned, but she stood up, got out her dagger and charged towards the fire-breathing monster. I got out my dagger, ducking my head to avoid the flames.

"Ok, I admit, maybe splitting up was a bad idea! I wish Leo was here!" I exclaimed.

Piper tried to strike the monster with her dagger, but it backflipped. "Yeah, no kidding!"

"Important safety tip; avoid the head!" Hazel added.

I battled Echidna, believing she would be the lesser of the two evils, but much to my surprise, she was armed and dangerous. She carried two swords; one made from steel and one of silver. I held my dagger against the two swords and tried to shove them away, but she swung the silver sword towards me, which I barely dodged. I quickly got out my second weapon, the drakon bone sword. Using the sword to keep Echidna's weapons at bay, I stabbed her in the arm (although I was aiming for her heart). She stepped back, writhed in agony then smirked.

"You're good, but are you good enough?" she asked.

"AHH!"

"Piper! What did your pet do to her?" Hazel asked, glaring at her.

"Oh relax, she's only been poisoned." Echidna answered. "Which will kill her shortly!"

"You monster!" I screamed.

I fought against the Mother of Monsters, seething with rage. Everything happened so fast that it was a big blur. I clearly remembered stabbing Echidna in the neck, killing her while Hazel somehow finished off the Chimera. Then, either from the increased heat in the area (because of the fire-breath) or exhaustion, I fainted yet again. My dreamscape was getting even stranger (like stranger than the usual strange). I thought I'd be seeing more current or recent events, but instead I saw something completely different.

A woman with blue eyes and blond hair stood in a white nightgown in a dark room, lit only by a single gold colored candle. She slowly paced about the room.

"Where is he?"

Suddenly a man with black curly hair and blue eyes entered the room. He was dressed a white tunic and stood nine feet tall.

"Phineas, is that you?" the woman asked. "Phineas?"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken, Daphne."

Suddenly there was a golden flash, then everything faded to black. The next thing I know, I see the evil maiden, Atlas and numerous other people with her. The evil maiden sat on a throne with a young man bowing down to her.

"Mistress, I have tried to recruit Achelous to our case, but he refused." he said.

"Really?" she asked.

"What do we do now?"

"Leave him. I'll wipe his mind of your memory later. He's not very useful anyway." She turned to Atlas. "Who do we have in our faction?

Atlas looked at the list. "Let's see, so far we have myself, Hercules, Phobos, Deimos, Enyo, Phorcys, Keto, Janus and Eris."

"My options are limited, but I can make do with what I have and what I can get. What about Khione?" the maiden asked.

"She refused. In fact, she actually told me that she saw the seven heroes, along with Calypso, in her suite in Russia." Keto answered.

"Khione's living in the mortal realm?" Phobos asked.

Janus's right side looked at Phobos like he was dumb. "Yes. And Zethes has been made mortal." He sighed. "What about Calais?" Janus's left side asked.

"He's dead." Enyo answered. "He was killed during his time as a mortal."

"Most of the Gigantes are dead or imprisoned in Tartarus." Eris stated.

"But there's one that we can recruit." the maiden said. "Not counting Damasen, he was the only giant who didn't join Gaea in the final battle."

The goddess of strife looked at her curiously. "Who might that be?"

"Clytius." she answered.

Some the immortal deities gasped at her answer. "But won't he take away your magic powers? He's the bane of Hecate." Hercules stated.

"Not necessarily." she answered. "He didn't try to steal Hazel's powers."

"She manipulated the Mist, not magic." Enyo stated.

"Besides, since I don't oppose him, why would he target me?" the maiden asked. "He has no reason to hate me."

"But he doesn't have a reason to join us." Deimos said.

"Well then, I'll give him a reason to join us. Eris, Enyo, come with me. We have a giant to find!"

The two disappeared and I woke up, gasping for air. I found myself in a shaded area. I soon realized that I was lying on the ground.

"Oh... My head..."

"Annabeth, are you okay?" Jason asked.

"I'm fine." I answered. Suddenly I remembered what happened. "Where's Piper?!"

Leo looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. "Uh, how do we explain this?"

I looked over and saw Piper, literally frozen in time. I gasped. "She's dead?"

"She's not dead, but she's very close to it." a familiar voice answered. Khione appeared in front of me. She wore a long white sleeveless dress with blue heels. The tiara on her head was gone, but otherwise she was pretty much the same. "I didn't want to, but, to save her life, I froze her temporarily to prevent the poison from killing her."

"I'm guessing the snow cloud is to prevent Piper from melting?"

"If she melts or breaks in her current form, it would be disastrous. That's why Leo is very far away from the ice statue."

Leo waved. I turned back to Khione. "So what happened, how did we end up here?"

Frank sighed. "Very long story."


	23. No Luck, No Cure, and No Hope

Hazel sighed. "After we defeated Echidna and her daughter the Chimera, Piper was on the verge of death and you had fallen unconscious. My father, Pluto, told me to go Red Wall Canyon. I didn't know why, but I trusted him and shadow-traveled there, taking you guys with me. Afterwards, I felt exhausted. To prevent myself from fainting, I put my hands on the ground and said, 'Help! Piper... poison... verge of death...' Khione, who was already with the guys, immediately froze Piper and put a snow cloud above her to keep her cool and prevent her from dying. Frank helped me up before I passed out from the exhaustion of shadow travel. Then Khione told Leo to stay away from the ice statue, to which he isolated himself. Afterwards, we just waited for you to wake up so that we could explain the situation."

I looked at Hazel, nodding to show that I understood her. "Okay... So what's the goddess of snow doing in the desert?"

"We were getting to that." Frank answered. "After we split up, I turned myself into a camel so that we could traverse the area at a faster pace. However, after about an hour, Jason suddenly stopped. He saw the ice goddess chained to a rock. She was chained with hot, semi-formed chains, like not even entirely metal kinda molten chains. Not only that, but she also had campfires on both sides of the rock. The hot chains, plus the desert heat, plus the fire, rendered her powerless. I turned back to normal and we rushed to her aid. Leo extinguished the fires while me and Jason handled the chains. Man, those took forever. If it was just metal, it would have been easier. We tried to ask her how she got there, but then Hazel appeared out of nowhere with two unconscious demigods."

I looked at him, baffled. "So, what happened?"

"Keto, an ancient sea goddess, came to my suite in Russia. She asked me if I wanted to join a faction of gods, titans and other creatures in a conquest for world domination. I refused. She tried tempting me with the promise of revenge on the Argo II Crew, but I refused again, telling her that they weren't so bad. She was under the assumption that I was one of your allies, which wasn't even entirely true. She called her husband, Phorcys, for backup, and the two of them ambushed me. They took me to the Death Valley desert and imprisoned me there. Since it's winter here, they believed the mild desert heat wouldn't be enough to neutralize my powers. So Phorcys got molten chains and Keto created a fire to further weaken me. I was stuck there for three days."

"Oh, that's just horrible. Not only did they imprison you, they indirectly tortured you as well." Jason commented.

"Gods are not easy to imprison, but it can be done." Khione said.

Jason looked at us. "So how are we going to save Piper?"

We looked at each other with blank stares. After a moment I answered with, "We would have to get a healer, have Khione unfreeze her at the right moment, and the healer would have to work very fast. Like, speed of sound fast."

"But where are we going to find a healer?" Frank asked.

"Let's see... Apollo, he's currently preoccupied, trying to find his sister." Hazel said. "According to one of my dreams."

"What about his children?" Leo asked.

"They're probably overworked due to the monster attacks. Which reminds me, I should probably check in with Malcolm." I said. "Assuming Camp-Half Blood hasn't fallen into pieces."

"You think they'll last long against the sorceress monster and her forces?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know. Lou Ellen's been holding the barrier for two days now, assuming she hasn't fainted." I said. "Anyway, back on topic. Asclepius and his children are too far away, Apollo and his children are preoccupied..."

"What about his Roman children and descendants?" Khione asked.

"He doesn't have too many children in his Roman form." Frank answered. "In fact, with Octavian's death, Nathan is the only descendant of Apollo at camp. Both direct and indirect. He's the last one."

"Even if Nathan does have healing powers, there's no way he can use them to heal Piper in his corrupted state of mind." Hazel said. Then she widened her eyes. "What about Will? Isn't he not at Camp Half-Blood?"

"He might be our only chance." Leo said.

Hazel formed a rainbow with the prism, and tossed in golden drachma. "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Will Solace."

Will was in a dark room. The only source of light was a lit candle.

"Oh hello Hazel." Will said. "Can I help you with something?"

"Where are you guys?" Leo asked.

He smirked. "We're taking a tour around the world. Last time we talked, we were in Hong Kong. Currently we're somewhere in India. Guess where we are. I'll give you a hint; it's one of the Delhi cities."

"Old Delhi. I can tell because I've seen a picture of the hotel room." I answered.

"Ding-ding-ding. We have a winner!" Will exclaimed. "So what's new?"

"We need your help. Piper's been hit with Chimera venom. Khione froze her to save her life, but we need someone to heal her. Can you help us?" Jason asked.

"I'd love to, but unfortunately, Nico just shadow-traveled here. He'll be out for hours. And even then, I don't think he'd appreciate having to break his vacation time." Will said. "Sorry I can't help."

"Don't worry, we'll find a way." I said.

Leo looked me skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Good night." I said.

Will smiled. "Good night and good luck."

He waved his hand through the rainbow, cutting off the connection. I fell to my knees in despair.

"What's wrong?" Khione asked.

"This is all my fault." I said.

"Annabeth, why are you blaming yourself?" Leo asked.

"It was my idea to split up the groups. If Leo had been with us, the Chimera would have been defeated earlier and Piper never would have been poisoned! This is my fault! Someone's been injured and on the verge of death, and I'm the one to blame!" I started crying again.

"Annabeth, don't say that!" Hazel said.

"Annabeth..." Jason began.

I wiped away my tears. "Just leave me alone."

"Now what?" Hazel asked.

"We should probably get out of the desert before we're all burned to a crisp." Frank answered. "We're out of sunscreen!"

"And although my snow cloud is keeping Piper cool, we should get her to a room temperature area where she won't be damaged." Khione answered.

"To Camp Jupiter, away!" Hazel exclaimed.

She shadow-traveled us to Camp Jupiter. Later, Khione, Jason and Frank helped to move Piper to the outside of Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

"Alright. Now that Piper is out of danger of melting, we need someone to guard her to make sure nobody touches her." I said.

Jason said, "I'll do it."

"It's about 5:55 right now, according to my watch. Man, this day has been terrible." Frank said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious." Leo sarcastically remarked.

I sat down on the steps leading to the temple. This was all my fault. No one could convince me otherwise.

 _Why is it always my fault? First Calypso, and now Piper?! This is all my fault._

There was no hope for our friend. I feared that Piper would soon be in Hades's domain. And no one would save her. _  
_


	24. Jason Volunteers For Freezing

Piper was still poisoned. We had to do something to save her, but what?

"Well, maybe if we found someone who can draw the poison out of her, we could save her..." Khione suggested.

"But where are we going to find someone who can do that?" Frank asked.

Suddenly my mind flashed back to when me and Percy fought Akhlys. She betrayed us after taking us to the Mansion of Night, but Percy turned the tables by using her poison against her.

"Percy!" I exclaimed.

"Huh?" Jason asked.

"Percy! He can manipulate poison! He hasn't done it in a long time, but he managed to do it while we were in Tartarus!"

"You two were in Tartarus?" Khione asked, shaking with fear.

"Yes, but that's not the point," a voice answered. We turned and saw Percy, who was exhausted. He yawned loudly.

"Dude, you look like you need a siesta." Leo commented. "What happened?"

"Marcus fell under the control of the evil maiden. He didn't kill anyone, but he and Nathan, who he had released from his bone jail, gave a message to the people of Camp Jupiter. They told everyone that me, Frank, and Gwen lied about Nathan's whereabouts, about Reyna's death, and that Gwen is an evil witch who betrayed the camp. I managed to convince most of them that Marcus and Nathan were under influence and Michael helped me imprison them in a tougher prison, guarded day and night by the toughest campers. But there's bad news. The bad news is that everyone's in a panic and scared that themselves or their friends and loved ones will fall under the evil influence. What's worse is that a few people believe Nathan and Marcus are right about everything they said. And the worst part, is that, according to Nathan, Camp Jupiter may be cursed forever."

"So Camp Jupiter is now divided against itself." Hazel said. "Oh joy."

"So, I'm guessing your guys' day has been much better than mine." Percy said.

We looked at each other, fear and sadness in our eyes. "I wouldn't say that..." Jason said.

Percy widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows in fear. "Oh no, what happened?"

We described to him how we went to Death Valley, and everything that happened during this time.

"That's why we need you to remove the poison from Piper." I finished.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Percy asked.

Jason got down on his knees. "Yes.. Please... Heal Piper. You're the only one that can help us."

Percy looked down. "I know nothing about drawing toxins. What if I can't do it fast enough?"

I looked at the ice goddess. "Khione, do you think it might be possible to unfreeze Piper at a slower pace than unfreezing her at once?"

"I could. It might be slower or faster than you expect. Do you might if I borrow one of you as a test subject so that Percy can get an idea of how slow it will be?"

"I'll do it." Jason said. "Freeze away!"

She instantly froze him. Then she slowly unfroze him. White energy swarmed downward, unfreezing his head in two seconds, then his torso was unfrozen in five more seconds and his legs were unfrozen in seven seconds.

"Once her head is unfrozen, Percy must start drawing out the venom in Piper's body." Khione said.

"You can do it, Percy." I said. "I believe in you."

"Do you think that we could save Reyna using this method?" Frank asked.

"Won't do any good. Pylosian Mint is one of the few poisons that can't be drawn out with toxikinesis." I said.

"How do you know that?" Piper said.

"I read about it in an ancient scroll." I said.

Later, Piper's ice statue was partially submerged in cold water. Leo, Jason, Hazel and I stood back from Percy. Frank stood to the side with two vials in his hands.

"Are you ready?" Khione asked.

He breathed in deeply then exhaled to calm himself. "I'm ready."

Khione started to unfreeze Piper, and Percy started drawing out the venom from her system. He held the purple substance above the water. Piper was partially unfrozen. He had only seven seconds remaining. He clenched his fist and drew out even more venom. As Piper fell back into the water (which was not very deep), Percy held a basketball sized sphere of venom.

Frank opened the vials and Percy divided the venom sphere into them.

"Did it work?" he asked.

Piper was unconscious. Had we failed? It seemed like we had failed, but a few moments later, Piper woke up. Percy extended his hand and helped her up.

"Oh... What happened? Where am I?" she asked.

"Piper!" Jason exclaimed. He threw his arms around her. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"Yes! I knew you could do it, Seaweed Brain!" I kissed him on the cheek and then he kissed me on the lips. We backed away and saw Piper, who was really confused.

"What happened? All I remember is battling the Chimera so that Annabeth wouldn't have to face her... What's Khione doing here?" she asked.

"Long story." Jason answered.

While eating dinner, we filled Piper in on what happened.

"So this mission was a total failure..." she said, eating a tofu burger.

"Not entirely." I stated. "We know that the evil maiden has a faction of allies, which is only increasing. She, Eris and Enyo are trying to find Clytius, the only evil giant who didn't join his brothers and sisters after Gaea's resurrection."

"But doesn't the evil maiden use magic? And Clytius is anti-magic... So?" Leo asked.

"That's what Hercules told her, but she doubts he will hurt her as long as she doesn't hurt him." I answered.

"Who are her other allies?" Hazel asked, stirring her gumbo.

"In addition to those allies already mentioned, there's Phobos, Deimos, Janus, Keto, Phorycs and Atlas." I answered.

"That's a good number. She already has over a dozen allies, most of them being gods or titans." Jason said.

"Which means we'll most likely encounter them. How will we face them?" Percy asked.

"I don't know. But it's not inevitable that we will face them." Frank said.

"We may face some of them." Leo said, eating some chicken kabobs.

"He's right unfortunately." I said.

"Looks like you guys have your work cut out for you." Khione said, sipping on cold coffee.

"I'm surprised the maiden didn't try to mind-control you." Frank said, eating another bite of his quiche.

"Her mind-control ability mainly works on mortals. Demigods have some resistance, and gods are almost impossible to corrupt." Khione said. "I'm amazed and terrified how she corrupted Athena."

"Are the other gods aware of what's happening?" Percy asked.

"Not entirely. In the world of the gods, things aren't going very well. Mount Olympus is in shambles. Hera and Zeus are getting into major arguments, much to everyone's dismay. Demeter is more depressed than usual. Why, no one really knows. Apollo is searching for his sister Artemis, completely oblivious that she is now suffering Atlas's curse. Hephaestus and Dionysus are very worried, the former about Athena's condition, the latter about Dakota and Pollux. Hermes is trying to figure out the truth behind Athena's corruption, with no luck. No one knows who's responsible or entirely what's going on. What's worse is that some ignorant gods are trying to pin the blame on someone. For instance, Pheme started a rumor that Poseidon is at fault, and now, Persephone, Hebe and Zephyros now believe her.

Leo looked at Khione like she was speaking a foreign language. "Theme?"

"Pheme. P-H-E-M-E. Goddess of gossip." Khione answered. "She isn't mentioned very much."

"No wonder." Percy said.

My phone vibrated. I had finished my dinner and went to check the message.

"Who's it from?" Khione asked.

"It's from Magnus." I answered. "It says, _I have seen a black-haired, blue-eyed girl with two other women strolling through the city of Boston. I couldn't hear all of their conversation, but one of them mentioned something about melting some ice and finding the bane of Hecate. Isn't Hecate the goddess of magic?_ "

I texted back, _Yes. In Greek Mythology, Hecate is the goddess of magic, the moon, darkness, death, wisdom and crossroads. If they're really looking for the guy I'm thinking of it can't be good._

"Melting some ice?" Jason asked.

"Probably referring to making Khione powerless to escape Death Valley." I said.

Another vibration. Magnus sent me this message; _Remind me, the bane of Hecate... His name is Clytius, isn't it?_

 _It is. But something doesn't make sense. In the first Giant War, it took thousands of years for the Gigantes to rise. Clytius was defeated six years ago. How could he be back already?_

 _I don't really know._

"Does Magnus know you're a demigod?" Jason asked.

I smiled. "Oh he knows, and he's perfectly fine knowing all of the craziness in my life."

Jason looked like he was about to say something, but he didn't.

"Well, I should probably get back to my suite, but before I do so, I want to give you this." She handed us an ice medallion. "It's a stygian ice medallion. If you ever need my assistance, hold the medallion in your hand and think or say, 'Goddess of snow, hear my cry.' After this, the ice will shatter into a million pieces and I will come to your aid. Think of it as like a thanks for saving me. You can only use it once, so use it wisely."

"Thank you, Khione." Leo said.

"Goodbye young heroes, and good luck." she said.

Khione disappeared in a flurry of snow.

"So who's going to carry the ice medallion?" Frank asked.

"Maybe we should vote?" I asked.

"I say Annabeth should get it. That way, if Annabeth runs off on her own or ever finds herself in a bad situation, she can call for backup." Percy said.

I blinked twice. "Really?"

"Annabeth... I remember you running away on the night of the Winter Solstice. When I find out you were missing, I was scared out of my mind." Percy told me.

"I didn't mean to scare anyone. I just... I didn't want to give up."

"You're really stubborn, Wise Girl. But I love you for that." He smiled and then raised his hand. "All in favor of Annabeth receiving the medallion, say I!"

"I!" the other five demigods exclaimed in unison.

"It's settled then." Percy stated.

Leo handed the medallion to me. It felt cold, yet it wasn't necessarily a bad chill.


	25. Living in the Past

That night, my dreams only continued to get weirder and weirder. Gwen was shown, although she was much younger. She was about 11 years old, and by that time, she had already been part of Camp Jupiter for three years. She was with Jason, Dakota, Nathan and Leila.

"You still don't know who your father is?" Jason asked.

"I don't know. My mother died shortly after I was born, raised by my grandmother. She knew nothing about it." She turned towards Dakota and Leila. "Do you guys who your divine parent or ancestor is?"

"Ceres claimed me as her daughter last week on my 11th birthday." Leila answered.

"I don't know, but my best guess is Mercury. He has a lot of children and legacies here, so it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case. But I have no clue." Dakota said.

The scene fast-forwarded to Gwen in the woods not too far from the War Games. She found a rolling skull and had followed it there. She then picked it up.

"Well, it seems you have found me." a voice said.

"Hello?" she asked. "Who's there?"

Suddenly a black glowing skull and crossbones appeared over her head. She had yet to realize it as Thanatos appeared in front of her.

"Hello, Gwendolyn." he said.

"Who... who are you?" she asked, trying to hide her fear.

"I am Thanatos, Lieutenant of Hades, reaper of souls. And I am your father."

She was dumbfounded. "Father?"

Gwen looked at the symbol above her, which had faded away a few seconds later.

"You wanted answers, and now you have them."

"But... but Thanatos is the god of death. He doesn't have any children."

"Oh, I have a small few. You have the abilities of necromancy, just like me. Use them."

"What? But everyone will think I'm a freak!"

"Do it, Gwendolyn. Use your powers! If you refuse to use your powers when they are needed most, something terrible will happen!"

He disappeared in black mist, leaving Jason there.

"Gwen, I saw everything, but I won't tell a soul. In fact, I swear on the River Styx that I won't tell anyone about your powers or parentage without your consent." he said.

"Oh.. Thank you, Jason." Gwen said, trying to force a smile.

Then it showed her washed ashore onto an island. She suddenly woke up. "Where the heck am I?"

She looked around the island. It was a beautiful island, and she saw a cave to her right. In front of her she saw a crack which split the area in half. She saw several sheep in the distance. "Okay, this is strange. Why are there sleep on an island?"

Then she heard loud footsteps. I recognized where she was. She was on Polyphemus's island. Those footsteps were Polyphemus himself. He stepped out into view. He noticed Gwen. "Huh? Who... who are you?! What are you doing here?!"

The scene switched to a girl (who was wearing a black cloak) running away from a pack of wolves in the forest. The only reason I could tell she was a girl is because I heard her voice as she ran. I had no idea how old she was, but she was about 10-11 years old.

She asked herself, "Where is my father? Who is he? Why did he abandon me and my mother? How did I get into this situation? Why am I running when I know my death is inevitable?"

An image came into her mind. It was a vision of a goddess with a bow and arrow, surrounded by other women. The girl wearing the cloak found herself near the edge of a cliff into the sea.

"What is happening? What has happened here?" she asked.

She heard a scream from afar. The scream sounded so familiar, yet I couldn't place my finger on who it was. The wolves had cornered her. She backed up to the edge.

"Goodbye cruel world."

She jumped off the cliff right before the wolves got her. As she fell, time almost seemed to slow down and soon the vision changed. Kronos was sitting on his throne on Mount Othyrs. He was knocked off his black throne by Zeus's Master Bolt. Soon the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades came forth.

"Your reign of terror ends here!" Zeus declared.

"You fools! You can not hope to defeat me! I am the most powerful being in the universe!" Kronos declared. He tried slowing down the time around him, but Poseidon fired a huge beam of water from his trident. While he did this, Hades used his Helm of Darkness to restrain his father with chains without him realizing it.

"No! No!" he exclaimed.

Poseidon and Hades held him down. Hades took off the Helm, making him visible to his two brothers and father.

"Zeus, now!" Hades commanded.

Zeus came crashing down, using his father's scythe to cut Kronos into dozens, then hundreds, a thousand pieces. Hades opened a crack in the earth and sent the pieces of Kronos to Tartarus.

"Finally, our father has been defeated." Hades said as the crack closed.

"But the war is not over yet." Zeus reminded them.

"He's right. We must defeat our father's allies, the Titans." Poseidon decreed. "Which reminds me, if Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios and Koios are sent to Tartarus, how will we prevent the sky from collapsing onto the Earth?"

"I already have a solution to this problem. Atlas, the General of Kronos's army, will take the burden of the sky alone." Zeus answered. "We must go. The sooner we defeat them, the sooner this war finally ends."

The vision ended and switched back to the girl falling down. She looked surprised as if she had realized something important. She then closed her eyes and a second later, she hit the water below. She never resurfaced, and I presumed that she had died. Then the scene switched again. The evil maiden, Enyo and Eris were in the Necromanteion (otherwise known as the House of Hades).

"This is where he was killed last time." the maiden said.

"So where is he?" Enyo asked.

"Some of his essence remains here." the maiden said. "We must gather his essence together and he shall reform here."

The evil maiden glowed with golden energy, Enyo glowed with red energy and Eris glowed with black energy. They drew out his energy from Tartarus.

"We have his essence." Enyo stated.

They projected their energy forward, and soon Clytius came into existence. "Huh? What happened? Did Gaea win without me?"

"No, Clytius. Sadly Gaea has fallen. But there is still a chance for you to be part of an army that will eventually take over the world. Join me and my friends here, and the Olympians will meet their downfall." the maiden spoke.

"Who... who are you?" he said, looking at the evil maiden.

"I am not your enemy. Call me Diana." she said.

"Like the Roman goddess of the moon, maidenhood, and the hunt?" he asked.

"She never gives her real name to anyone." Enyo stated.

"I have had several aliases over several centuries." she answered.

"Is she always like this?" Clytius asked.

Eris shrugged. "Are you in or not?"

He smirked. "Alright, I'll join you girls in your conquest."

"Thank you. Your assistance will be most valued." Eris stated.

 _Soon Hercules will be eating his words. With Clytius on my side, no one can stop us!_

I woke up. Upon standing up, I realized it had been a week since I found out I was pregnant with Percy's child. I should have been thinking more about the sake of myself and the child inside of me, but the truth was, most days, I was trying to forget about it. Maybe that's how I was trying to deal with stress. I was thinking of the past and the present, and not the future. Shame on me, I know. No wonder they gave me the ice medallion. They really wanted me to be safe. I sighed. I was lying to myself. Oh how many times have I done that now in the midst of this chaos?


	26. We Face the Gods of Fear

I told my friends about some of the dreams I had that night.

"So, the maiden's name is Diana." Percy said.

"That's her alias. The goddess of war and destruction says she never gives her real name to anyone." I corrected.

"And she's got Clytius aboard the SS Armageddon." Hazel said.

Frank looked at his girlfriend, really confused. "SS Armageddon?"

She shrugged. "What? It's an appropriate title. That's probably what the evil maiden wants to see."

"We don't know what Diana's goals are." I reminded them. "Either way, things aren't looking good."

"Not good at all." Percy stated. "So how are we going to stop her?"

"I don't know." I answered. "I would say explore another desert, but I don't want anyone else getting poisoned again."

"We wouldn't run into Khione again." Piper lamented.

"What do you think, Leo?" I asked. He wasn't paying attention. "Leo?"

"Huh? What?"

"What do you think about roaming around another desert?" I asked.

Leo turned away. "I'm not sure..."

Frank turned to Leo, concerned. "Are you alright?"

He hesitated. "Well..."

Suddenly Piper's dagger showed us another vision. Calypso was chained to a column. Phobos, Deimos and Atlas were all there.

"She's not confessing to anything." Phobos said.

"Unfortunately, this girl is so stubborn." Deimos chimed in agreement. "Just tell us where they are!"

"No. I won't..." Calypso coughed. "Tell you..." She coughed again. "Anything..." She coughed three more times.

"Why not? Don't you love your dear old dad?" Atlas asked, trying to taunt her.

"I won't..." She coughed. "Make the same..." She coughed twice. "Mistake twice..."

"Why's she coughing so much?" Phobos asked.

"She has tuberculosis." Deimos answered.

"You don't have to suffer like this, Calypso. Just tell us where Leo and his friends are, and we'll cure you of your sickness." Atlas told her.

"Never!" She coughed. "You'll never hurt my beloved Leo Valdez!"

The maiden, known to us as Diana, stepped into the room. "How the interrogation doing?"

"Not well. She's as stubborn as a mule." Phobos answered.

"Have you tried bribing her with healing her sickness?" Diana asked.

"Tried that. Didn't work." Deimos chimed in. "Now what?"

Phobos thought to himself for a minute. "Well we have three options; cure her and keep her as our prisoner, let her suffer and die, or just put her out of her misery."

"We're not going to kill her." Diana said. "Her death won't help us in any way. I'm going to cure her then see if my mind-control won't work on her." She threw a golden light towards Calypso. She exhaled and the magic swarmed around her for about 20 seconds or so. She softly gasped. Her sickness was gone. "Now then." Her hand glowed with gold energy. "Tell us where Leo Valdez and his friends are."

She groaned in agony. "No.. I won't..." Her other hand glowed gold.

"She's trying to resist. Somehow she is resisting my influence."

"Maybe because she was formerly a Titan?" Atlas asked.

"Perhaps." She turned to Calypso and her eyes now glowed gold. "Calypso Angelis, tell us where Leo Valdez is."

"No... no... No!" Her eyes flashed. "Camp Jupiter." She shook her head. "Why did I say that?"

"Finally, we got her!" Phobos stated.

"They'll never see it coming." Diana said. "We'll possess one of the campers, and then Percy is a goner!"

The vision ended. Leo turned away, very sad.

"Leo, did you see this vision?" Jason asked.

Leo turned towards us. "I did."

"How many days ago?" Percy asked.

His head sank. "Four."

"Then why didn't you tell us this earlier?" Frank asked.

"I was scared. Calypso's imprisoned by the bad guys and it's all my fault! I never should of let her go!" he exclaimed.

"The odds are against us." Piper commented.

"We have no choice. We must fight on. Whatever Diana and her allies have planned, it can't be good." I said.

Suddenly I saw a vision. Calypso was in Griffith Park (which I had never even heard of). She had her hands chained behind a post. I saw Phobos and Deimos clearly for the first time and could make out their physical features. They both had black hair, one had brown eyes and one had black eyes. They both wore ripped jeans and black t-shirts with _Panic! At the Disco_ on them, except At the Disco was crossed out with a red line. They also wore leather jackets, black combat boots, and had visible knifes on them. (I don't know what the mortals saw with the Mist)

"Why are we here?" Phobos asked.

"We were told to take Calypso far from the lair." Deimos answered. "Why must you be so oblivious?"

"I know that, but why here of all places?"

"So that we can feed off the fear of the people touring here, including the fears of Calypso. We'll be more powerful. Once we have done this, we will hunt down Annabeth and her pathetic friends."

"Isn't our half-sister Piper among them?"

"That matters little, Phobos. She is our enemy."

The vision ended.

"Annabeth? Are you okay?" Percy asked.

"I know where Calypso is. She's being held hostage in a deserted corner of Griffith Park." I answered. "We have to find her... and quickly."

"Why? Are they going to kill her?!" Leo asked.

"No, but Phobos and Deimos will hunt us down." I answered.

Piper looked away, despondent. Was she thinking about how her immortal half-brothers turned to the dark side? We soon left for Griffith Park, hoping we could find Calypso before Phobos and Deimos found us.

"Let me guess, you want us to split up." Jason said.

"No. I know exactly where Calypso is, so there's no need for that." I answered.

"Where is she?" Leo asked.

"She's on the top of Mount Hollywood, not too far from the Greek Theater." I said. "We best be on our guard."

We roamed through the park, running into a number of tourists along the way, but we didn't see any monsters, gods, Titans or rogue immortal maidens. Eventually, we found Calypso, chained to a post. My nerves started to calm down, but my mind told me to be alert at all times.

"Calypso!" Leo exclaimed.

He ran to her. Then I had a bad feeling stir up. "Leo, don't!"

Leo ran into an invisible wall. "Ow!" The invisible barrier flashed blue for a moment, then it disappeared. We heard a sinister laughter. Mist appeared.

"Who are you?!" Percy asked.

"Show yourself!" Piper exclaimed.

A woman stepped out of the mist. Black hair fell down her shoulders, her hazel eyes flickering with power, and her perfect skin, she looked like a young model in her 20's. She wore a black silk dress with a diamond necklace. I had never seen her before, yet somehow I recognized her. Before I could say her name, one of my fellow demigods beat me to it.

"Medea." Piper said, scowling at her.

"Long time, no see." she greeted.

"You know her?" Hazel asked.

"How could I forget?" she quipped back.

"I don't get it. I thought she blew up in a fiery explosion." Leo said.

"Oh I was resurrected by Gaea sometime after that. When she was defeated, I was forced into hiding. Now that the Deceiver of the Gods has found me, she has offered me a chance at power." Medea answered.

"You should surrender now, Medea. You're outnumbered. There's seven of us and one of you. What'ca ya gonna do?" I taunted.

"Outnumbered? Well, I can fix that." She blasted Piper down with a fireball. "Perseus, Jason, Frank, Leonidas, go to sleep." They tried to resist, but eventually they all fell to the ground. "And now for my next trick." She got out a flute and played an eerie, bone-chilling tune. Soon Phobos and Deimos appeared in front of us. I gasped. Piper got up. Hazel looked terrified. "Now we're evenly numbered and you're outmatched. Fairness is such a fickle thing."

"It's over, foolish heroes." Phobos stated.

"Turn back now." Deimos warned.

This looked really bad. I didn't like our odds against our foes, but this was just another day in the life of a demigod, right?


	27. Piper Has the Worst Family Reunion Ever

We had no choice but to face them. Hazel fought Medea as Piper got out her dagger and charged towards Deimos with tears in her eyes. I got out my sword and charged towards Phobos.

"My immortal half-brothers, why are you aiding this evil maiden?" Piper asked, slashing at Deimos.

Phobos blocked my attack with his sword. "Why would we not?"

"What could you have to gain by joining her?" I asked, throwing my sword at him.

He dodged my attack and tried to strike me with his blade. _I don't get it._ I thought Percy said Phobos and Deimos were bad with swords. I picked up my sword and continued fighting Phobos.

"I know what you're thinking, Annabeth. 'I thought Percy said we were bad with swords.' News flash, me and Deimos have gotten some training after joining the maiden's faction."

Hazel rolled her eyes. Medea kicked her down. "We know your boss's name. She calls herself Diana."

"So you know the truth?" Medea asked. "Or at least, part of it anyway. You don't know her real name."

"It's not like you know what her real name is!" the daughter of Pluto quipped.

Deimos then got out a cornucopia and started firing various kinds of roasted meats at his half-sister.

"Hey, isn't that the horn of plenty?" I asked, deflecting Phobos attack.

Piper stood there, breathless. She was completely dumbfounded. "You kept it after all these years?"

"Of course. These magical cornucopias are rare!" Deimos claimed.

"I can't believe I sacrificed it to you two backstabbers years ago!"

She stabbed Deimos with her blade and took back the horn of plenty. He was knocked out by Piper, who kicked him right in the groin, and then knocked into the other side of the pillar with a bunch of bananas and other fruits. We clashed swords until Phobos had his back to a cliff. I had the upper hand. Once he fell, he would be weakened. Then we'd capture him and force him to tell us what he knows.

"It's the end of the line, Phobos. So give it up." I said.

"You may be a better fighter, but should you even be fighting us?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't lie to me Annabeth. Me and Phobos know you're with child." I gasped. "I also know you fear losing that child."

He grabbed my wrist, his long nails clawing into my skin and soon I saw several visions. The first one was me suffering from a miscarriage (similar to Gwen). I was sobbing uncontrollably, feeling that it was all my fault. The second vision showed me making terrible decisions that caused Calypso to nearly freeze or bleed to death and Piper suffering from the Chimera's venom.

"You fear losing your child. You fear losing yourself or your friends."

The vision showed Gwen drowning in the Sea of Monsters. She was pulled under by a giant crab. She tried to escape with no luck. I saw the look of sadness in her eyes. She had failed. She then ran out of air and suffocated. Then it showed Camp Half-Blood's barriers falling, the whole camp being destroyed in blasts of fire and mist. My siblings as well as the other campers, were overwhelmed by the monster army. Chiron was knocked out. Lamia was shown murdering Lou Ellen with a knife by stabbing her in the back. Next it showed Camp Jupiter's curse spiraling out of control and the entire camp crumbling to pieces. New Rome was being destroyed by a huge earthquake. Terminus was panicking and he couldn't do anything. He was flattened and couldn't be heard under the rubble. Undead roamed the camp and were defeating the demigods and legacies of the camp. Nathan, who's eyes flashed gold, was the praetor. He smiled wickedly. After that, I saw Percy being blasted into the wall by a golden beam of energy. He was dying, fading away. And last of all, it showed the evil maiden known as Diana laughing evilly. She stood alongside Hercules on Olympus.

"Finally, the universe is ours!" she exclaimed.

"You fear that Gwen will fail her quest. You fear the fall of Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. You fear Camp Jupiter will be cursed forever and crumble to pieces. You fear losing the love of your life. And you fear the evil maiden will succeed in her conquest. All these events will come to pass..." Phobos continued.

I stood, frozen in horror. "No... This can't be..."

"You're powerless to stop us, Annabeth Chase. So why bother trying?"

I felt a blade strike against my skin, and then I was kicked in the chest. I was tumbling, and I found myself clinging to the side of a cliff. For a brief moment, I saw Hazel and Leo battling Medea. Piper was on her knees, softly crying. As far as I could tell, Frank, Jason and Percy were still unconscious and Calypso had yet to be freed from captivity. I looked down below me. That fall would probably kill me. I forced myself back up so I was no longer on the verge of falling. My courage was gone, destroyed by Phobos' words and terrible visions. I felt a bad feeling creep up my spine, almost like a burn, but I wasn't on fire. Why was I feeling this? I then started feeling dizzy again. _Oh gods. Why now?_

"It's over Annabeth! No one can save you now!" Phobos stated.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled.

I was kicked in the stomach and knocked off the cliff. I was falling dozens, or maybe even hundreds of feet from the sky. No one could save me now. Khione wouldn't get here fast enough, so I didn't even reach for the medallion. And even if I survived the fall, would my unborn child be alright? My thoughts ran through my mind faster than I was falling, which is saying something considering that I fell pretty fast. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the worst.


	28. A Goddess Gives Us Some Bad News

Much to my surprise, the worst never came. I opened one eye then another. I realized I was being suspended in the air, only seconds away from landing face-first onto the ground. My body was turned around 180 degrees so my face was no longer facing the ground. Then I fell into a woman's arms.

"Are you alright, little one?"

"I'm fine. Thanks to you." I slowly answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm no enemy, young demigoddess." She looked at the top of the mountain. "Your friends are up there, right?"

"They are."

"Then I will take you to them."

She teleported us to the top of the mountain. The woman carefully placed me on the ground. All of my friends were there, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Annabeth! You're alive! Thank the gods!" Percy exclaimed. He turned to the stranger. "Who are you?"

"I'm Eos, goddess of the dawn." she answered. "I don't expect you to kneel for me. Not too many people know about me."

Eos was a very kind person, and she was a beautiful titaness. Her tanned skin blended with her chocolate colored hair and green eyes. She wore a long white dress and had her hair in a braid. She stood nearly seven feet tall, but that was because she wore black heels.

"I sense that this young girl needs some emotional reassurance." she said.

"Annabeth, what happened?" Percy asked.

I didn't want to think. I didn't want to feel. I felt like crying... "Phobos.. he showed me..." I started sobbing. "Several... visions... So many... fears..."

"Those fears are irrational. They're all in your head."

"Not all of them are."

"Tell me what you saw."

"The first fear was showing a vision of me suffering from a miscarriage. I was sobbing uncontrollably, feeling that it was my fault."

"That is an irrational fear. The chance of that happening is low. Even if Hera was on your bad side, it would still be unlikely. In fact, since Hera actually likes you now, the chances of a miscarriage should be minuscule. You have nothing to worry about there. What was the next vision?"

"The second vision was of me making a decision that caused my friends to be in danger and/or die in the process. It showed visions of Calypso suffering from blood loss and Piper suffering from the Chimera's venom."

"That's irrational. You couldn't have possibly known that Calypso was going to be mauled by wolves or that you, Hazel and Piper would encounter the Chimera. No mortal would have known. Unless you're Nathan or Rachael Elizabeth Dare. What happened next?"

"The third vision was Gwen, failing her quest and drowning in the Sea of Monsters."

"That's actually understandable. She's all alone on a highly dangerous quest in one of the most dangerous areas to demigods. But we must have faith in her. She's a tough cookie. Next?"

"The fourth vision showed Camp Half-Blood's barriers falling and the camp being invaded by Lamia and her army of monsters."

"That unfortunately is very real and could happen any moment. We don't know how long Lou Ellen's protection will last. I'm worried about this too. We all are. Even those of us that never stayed at Camp Half-Blood for a very long time. But we must have faith in our friends and believe that they will come through. Is that all?"

"No, there's three more. The fifth vision is Camp Jupiter's curse continuing forever and eventually destroying the camp in the process."

"I'm not sure on that one. Camp Jupiter has been cursed twice in a row, which according to Gwen, has never happened before, but it doesn't mean that Camp Jupiter is doomed. Next?"

"The sixth vision was losing you."

"Not going to happen. And finally?"

"The evil maiden had succeeded in her plans. She was standing on Olympus alongside her allies and said, 'Finally, the universe is ours!'"

"We will stop her. No matter how bad things get, we'll stop her and her allies." He embraced me, and I threw my arms around him.

Hazel looked at the goddess curiously. "What brings you here? Did you know that Annabeth was in trouble?"

She smiled warmly. "I had no idea she was going to fall off a cliff. It was just a fortunate occurrence that I happened to be there. Truth be told, I was just being a tourist trying to get away from a warring Mount Olympus."

"Warring Mount Olympus?" Frank asked in alarm.

"Khione told us that Mount Olympus was in shambles, but she didn't tell us what was happening." Leo said.

"She told you nothing. Everything's in complete catastrophe." Eos said. "Despite the fact that nobody blamed Dionysus for the corruption of Athena, Pheme started a rumor that he is responsible. What's worse, some people believe that deranged lunatic. What's worse is that Athena somehow escaped from her jail."

I gasped. "What?!" me and Percy exclaimed in unison.

"I know. It took all of the gods by surprise. Now several people are trying to blame one or more gods for this outbreak. Ares blames Hephaestus, as he's the one who built her prison. Dionysus blames Hera, who thinks that creating the sound-proof barrier weakened the bars of her jail cell. Everyone's pointing fingers at each other, but the truth is, no one knows who's responsible for what anymore. The peace on Mount Olympus is shattering into pieces, and it looks like no one can stop it."

"What about Hera?" I asked.

Eos' face turned sorrowful. "She's disappeared when we need her the most. No one knows where she is."

"Hestia?" Percy asked.

"She's also disappeared."

"This is strange. Two major goddesses disappearing..." Piper said.

"This has the evil maiden written all over it." Jason said.

"Artemis is also gone." Eos said.

"She's been kidnapped." Hazel said.

Eos gasped. "What?! This can not be true!"

"Unfortunately it is." I said. "I saw her and she spoke of how an evil maiden tricked her into taking Atlas's burden. For this, and several other reasons, me and my friends are seeking to find this rogue maiden and put an end to her evil ways."

"I guess that would explain why Apollo is not on Mount Olympus. He's searching endlessly for his sister." Eos gathered. "I know this isn't a relevant question, but are any of you men single?"

"Nope." Leo replied.

"Negative." Frank responded.

"Engaged." Jason said.

"Taken." Percy answered.

She sighed. "Oh well. I'll live."

"Why was she asking if any us were single?" Leo asked his fellow men.

"It's because Eos was cursed. Several millennia ago, she slept with Ares, facing the wrath of a jealous Aphrodite. She cursed the goddess with a constant passionate fire in her heart, so she sought out mortal men, sometimes even running away with them." I answered.

"So you know of my story." she said. "Not too many know about me. I'm somewhat surprised that I haven't faded like my two siblings did."

Piper slowly started backing away. Jason noticed. "Pipes, what's wrong?"

"Are you... still mad at Aphrodite?" she asked Eos.

"I used to be. For the first ten years, I was very angry at her. But overtime, I've learned to live with it and make the most of this curse. I bear no ill-will towards her." Eos answered. "Why do you ask? Are you a daughter of Aphrodite?"

She nodded slowly. "Are you going to hurt me?"

"I won't hurt you. It's not your fault that I'm cursed to pursue handsome young lads." she answered.

"So... On the topic of facing the evil maiden, what now?" I asked.

"I don't know. Phobos escaped and took Calypso as Annabeth fell." Leo said.

"If it weren't for the fact that Phobos is immortal, I would kill him." Percy stated.

I heard a noise. Deimos, who was chained up, was waking up, moaning. "Oh, and we have a captive god." Jason added.

Leo sighed. "It was not easy chaining him up."

"Let's get him back to Camp Jupiter. Then we'll see what we knows." I suggested.

"Good luck young heroes." Eos said. "You're gonna need it."

She disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Now for the real question; how are we going to get Deimos from here to Camp Jupiter?" Frank asked.


	29. The Rogue Maiden Sends Us a Message

Hazel was feeling terribly drained from her fight with Medea, so she didn't shadow travel us back to camp. Instead, we knocked out Deimos, stuffed the god of terror in a large suitcase (which Hazel had bought at the Furnace Creek airport and had in her jeans pocket), and rolled him all the way to Camp Jupiter.

Leo dragged the suitcase along. "Man this case is heavy. How did I get stuck with this chore?"

"Stop complaining, Leo. We're not too far from Camp Jupiter." Frank said.

The son of Hephaestus sighed. "Remind me why Hazel isn't shadow teleporting us."

"Because Frank is worried about her." Jason answered.

"I said I'm fine." Hazel remarked.

Frank, who was behind Leo, looked at the red suitcase. "If only the suitcase would stop squirming."

The suitcase rattled more. Deimos was trying to escape, with no luck.

Percy looked shaken. "I'm worried he's going to escape."

"Shouldn't happen. He's bound in chains and trapped in a suitcase. Escaping is impossible." Piper said.

I would have liked to believe her words, but I was still unnerved by Phobos tormenting me. I didn't say a word until we got back to Camp Jupiter. We put the suitcase where Nathan was formerly imprisoned. The room still had bones spread all over the floor.

"This place gives me the creeps." Leo said, after hauling the suitcase into the room. He laid it down.

"It's the perfect place for doing interrogation." I remarked. "Is the door locked?"

Frank checked the handle, took out a key, then locked it. "Now it is."

"Perfect. Open the suitcase." I ordered.

Jason, Frank and Percy opened the suitcase and Deimos sat up.

"Finally, I'm no longer stuck in a tight space!" Deimos exclaimed. He turned and saw me. "What?! You survived the fall? How is this possible?!"

"That matters not." I retorted. "Unless you want to be stuck in a suitcase for two more hours, you're gonna answer our questions."

"Well then. What do you want to know?"

"First things first, what is the real name of your boss?

"I thought it was Diana, but Enyo tells me that is just an alias."

"It is. You don't know, do you?"

"Nope."

"Okay, next question. What are Diana's plans?"

"She wants to rule the world, but I don't really know how she plans to go about doing that."

"Really?" Leo asked. He lit fires in his palms.

"I really don't know."

"Where are Diana and her allies hiding?"

"I don't know."

"Really? You're a liar, I saw you in their lair, wherever it is. Leo, fire at will!"

Leo fired away (literally) at Deimos. He burned up Deimos's hair and the sleeves of his leather jacket.

The god groaned. "Dude, not cool!"

"Let's try this again. Where is Diana hiding?" I repeated.

"She's hiding in the Los Feliz Mansion, which has been abandoned by humans for over half a century."

"Why, what happened?" Hazel asked.

"I don't really know, but it makes a great place for a rogue maiden to hide." he answered. "Any other questions?"

"Do you know who Diana's parents are?"

"No idea, but my best guess is Hecate."

"Alright. We're done here. Knock him out."

Piper threw a ham at him with her horn of plenty, knocking him out. Me and Percy stuffed him back into the suitcase, then Frank unlocked the door. We all left the room before Frank locked it again.

"Well the interrogation wasn't totally useless." Jason said.

Percy nodded in agreement. "Now we know where they are. We better start planning an invasion."

Just then, a paper airplane arrived and landed on my head. I picked up the note and read it.

"To Percy Jackson and his friends, _I know that you have my servant, Deimos, in your clutches. By now, the six of you know that Calypso is also being held captive. Therefore, I'll make you a deal. Meet my servant Phobos at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery tomorrow at 9am sharp. You bring Deimos and release him, and Phobos shall bring you Calypso. If all six of you show up and bring Deimos to Phobos, Calypso will not be harmed. However, if you fail to show up, don't bring Deimos, or try any tricks, Calypso will be killed. From the Deceiver of the Gods. P.S for Perseus Jackson- How does it feel knowing that your beloved Annabeth is now gone? It hurts doesn't it?_ "

Jason scratched his head. "Huh?"

"That doesn't make sense. Annabeth is still alive." Frank said.

"Phobos must have presumed that I was killed." I answered. "We can use this to our advantage. So we need to save Calypso, and get to the enemy base. This is going to be tricky."

"They expect nearly all of us to be there. If we release Deimos, he'll tell her that he told us where her lair is and then they'll move. We'll be back at square two again." Percy stated.

Hazel suddenly froze. "What if Diana doesn't keep her end of the bargain? What if she refuses to release Calypso or worse, kills her?"

"She wouldn't dare..." Leo said, breathing heavily.

"Patricia called Diana the Deceiver of the Gods. She sounds untrustworthy." I remarked. "Hmm... How about this? Using my invisibility cap, I'll free Calypso from her chains. Afterwards, we dishonor our agreement and keep Deimos in captivity."

"Won't she hurt Calypso?" Piper asked.

"What if we use a decoy?" Jason asked. "Like a mistform?"

"Bad idea! She'll see right through it and kill Calypso!" Leo exclaimed.

Frank paced a little. "Maybe we can send someone to her lair while we deal with the hostage exchange."

"But she could still break her promise." Hazel repeated.

I looked at my teammates curiously. "Even if we were to send someone, who would we send?"

Jason looked at me. "Maybe Annabeth? They wouldn't expect it since they think she's dead."

Percy glared at Jason with daggers in his eyes. "No way. She doesn't have any powers and she's pregnant. There's no way she can face that many enemies all by herself."

"But she still has Khione's medallion, doesn't she? She could call her for backup." Leo stated.

"Even then, trying to invade the fortress with only two people would still not be easy." I said. "Maybe Hazel could create a mistform of Percy or Jason, and have the real one go into the fortress. They would stay there until they announce where they'll move to."

Jason looked at Percy. "Could one of us really hide in there for that long and still make it out alive unscathed?"

"Could any of us do that?" Piper asked.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated. It was Magnus, requesting a videochat call. I pressed answer.

"Hey Magnus."

"Howdy Annabeth. You look distressed."

"We're in a quandary."

I explained to him the situation.

"Ok. Let's assume the worst case scenario and that Diana is like Loki; completely untrustworthy and Phobos won't keep his word. Here's what I would do. First, Hazel can try to manipulate his memory and make him forget that he told you guys the location of his boss. If that doesn't work, have Piper charmspeak him to make him shut up. And if that fails, have someone, aside from you seven, impersonate Deimos and give him to Phobos instead of the real deal. Annabeth will use her invisibility cap and stand by Calypso to free her if Phobos betrays you. Once you guys have saved Calypso, you gather up your weapons, wits and storm the maiden's lair."

"That should actually work." Frank said.

I smiled. "Thank you, Magnus."

"No problem." he said. "I have experience in dealing with untrustworthy loonies."

"Hey Magnus, we're going to be a late!" an off-screen voice exclaimed.

"I gotta go. Good luck guys." He hung up.

Frank looked at me strangely. "Untrustworthy loonies?"

"Magnus may not be a Greek or Roman demigod, but he's had some pretty crazy adventures and run-ins with bad people." I answered. "Frank, give the keys to Hazel. Let's see if we can make Deimos forget what he told us."

Frank handed the keys over to her and she walked off. She unlocked the door and closed it behind her.

"I hope your cousin's crazy idea to pile all of our ideas together works." Leo said. "Because if doesn't... Calypso is a goner." He turned away from the others and he started crying.

"We will save Calypso." Jason said, patting Leo's back.

Leo sobbed. "I risked everything to save her. I literally died for her."

"Don't worry, Leo. We'll save her." I said. I whispered, "I promise."

As I spoke those words, I couldn't help but fear the absolute worst.


	30. Be Prepared! (But Nobody Is)

While Hazel tried to manipulate Deimos's memory, the rest of us tried to relax. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Just then, I got a phone call. The number was not one that I immediately recognized. After three dials, I realized that it was Mr. Molotov. I then answered.

"Hello? This is the number of Annabeth Chase, correct?"

"That's right."

"I have finished my process of elimination and I would like to call you for a final interview. When you do think you'll be available?"

I hesitated. He was all the way in New York City, while I was outside the city limits of San Francisco. It was December 24th, five weeks along. Percy was framed a week ago. So much happened in a single day it seems.

"Could you give me a week?"

"Oh, certainly. I'll give you two weeks due to the holidays. How about on Saturday, January 7th, at say, four o'clock?"

"Sure. That works."

"Great. I look forward to it. Have a good day."

He hung up, leaving me with a dreadful feeling.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" Percy asked.

I looked away sadly. "I would like to say yes, but I can't."

"What's the problem?"

"You remember me mentioning a guy named Mr. Molotov, right?"

"Yeah. Isn't he the guy who thought of hiring you to be an architect?"

"He is. In two weeks, he wants me to come back for a final interview. I'm feeling nervous. What if he doesn't hire me? What if he finds out of my pregnancy and fires me? I'm getting more irrational fears. How will I face the future like this?"

"I don't think that pregnancy would really be a factor in choosing whether or not to hire someone." Leo spoke.

"In some industries, yes." I corrected. "I don't know what they would do if they knew. Also, I can't let them find out. Not until I get some money into a savings bank."

Hazel walked into the room. "Why? Doesn't Percy have a job?"

"I had a job as a swim coach, but unfortunately, I got fired because someone drowned and I couldn't save them in time. This happened about a month before the framing." he answered.

"The framing? Oh right.. Athena." Leo muttered.

"Yeah. You know. Ever since then, I've been a jobless bum."

"Don't call yourself that, Seaweed Brain. It's not even your fault."

Hazel entered the room. "How did the mist manipulation go?" Jason inquired.

She sighed. "It failed. Deimos still remembers."

"Looks like it's up to me." Piper said.

She arose from the bench, got the keys and left.

"Well, if you're looking for a job, you could do what me and Piper have done; become vigilantes." Jason said to Percy.

"Vigilantes? What the heck is that?" Frank asked.

"A vigilante is a non-police officer who fights crime. Bounty hunters are a kind of vigilante. Vigilantism is a rather dangerous business, arguably more so than being a police officer." I answered. "Why did you guys never do anything else?"

"Well here's the thing. After Piper fell into a depression and attempted suicide because of the Curse of Camp Jupiter, I took her to see a therapist to try and get her back on her feet. Neither of us had jobs to pay the therapist, so we tried numerous occupations including servers, chefs, tour guides, cashiers and merchants. Unfortunately, none of them worked out for one reason or another. Then we saw a trio of men trying to rob a bank. Piper charged in, hating the feeling of not doing anything to help, and I followed her. The two of us defeated them. We got a lot of money from that one showdown, and we've been battling crime ever since. To prevent people from finding out our real names, we donned disguises and used the aliases of Sparky and Beauty Queen. Crime fighting has worked out surprisingly well for us. Occasionally, we encounter rogue demigods and monsters. It works so well, so why mess with the program?" Jason explained.

"Me and Calypso run our mechanic shop, which is currently managed by my most trusted employee, Mrs. Leer, while we're away." Leo chimed in.

"I've kinda shifted jobs from time to time." Frank added. "Right now, I'm a candy merchant, and I've been called for jury duty at least three times this year. And we all remember Hazel's a chef."

"Still, I'm nervous..." I said.

Piper exited the bone room. "No luck. Looks like we need a decoy."

She handed the keys back to Frank. "But where are we going to find a person who's willing to impersonate a god?"

We went outside and started thinking of campers we knew. Jacob, Larry, Bobby, Lelia, Octavian, and Hank were all dead, Gwen was on a quest to save Reyna, who was also dead but could be resurrected (assuming Gwen succeeds in her quest), and Nathan and Marcus were under the control of Diana.

"Looks like we have no choice but to ask Michael."

We asked him to help us, but he firmly refused. I sighed. We walked back to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

"Now what? We're out of comrades we know." Leo said.

"We could force a random stranger into doing it." Percy suggested.

Frank immediately responded, "No. I don't want us to abuse our power like Octavian did."

"Even then, we would have good reason for forcing a stranger to impersonate Piper's evil half-brother." Jason remarked.

Suddenly I heard a faint sound. "Hey, do you hear that? It sounds like screaming."

Frank looked around and behind him. "I don't hear anything."

The sound got louder and louder. "Ahh!"

"Oh now I hear it." Jason said.

"But where is it coming from?" Frank asked.

Suddenly we got our answer. Dakota was flying through the air. Jason tried to summon wind currents to prevent him from falling, but he fell on the ground at least 100 feet away from us. The impact knocked him out cold. Leo immediately grabbed him and took him to the Infirmary. While we waiting for him to wake up, Percy and Frank thought of an idea.

"Dakota. Dakota!" Jason exclaimed.

He opened his eyes. "Oh, my head. Where am I?"

"You're in Camp Jupiter's Infirmary."

"Camp Jupiter? I must leave immediately! I'm not supposed to be here!"

"Dakota, wait!" Hazel exclaimed.

He stopped. "I know me and Reyna banished you from the camp a couple years back." Frank said. "But we're willing to give you another chance if you do something for us. You won't be allowed to drink in the camp though."

Dakota remained neutral. "That's alright. I learned my lesson the hard way. What do you need me to do?"

"We need you to impersonate Deimos, the god of fear." I answered.

"Deimos? I think he's known as Metus in Roman mythology..." he muttered. "Sure, I'll do it."

We all looked at each other in amusement. "Really? No questions?" Jason asked.

"None. Just tell me what the plan is." Dakota answered.

We told Dakota of the plan. Piper and Hazel did a makeover of Dakota and made him look like Deimos. By the time they were done with him, Dakota had Deimos clothes on and he had his hair dyed black and Hazel used mist to make his eyes look brown (as Phobos had black eyes). We joined the trio in the lobby.

Jason clapped. "Well, well, well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say we're in the presence of a god."

"Now for another thing. Can you mimic his voice?" I asked.

"Well I heard some of Deimos grunts and growls while my stylists gave me a makeover. Let's see." He cleared his throat and spoke in a harsh, raspy voice, "Foolish mortals! You are in the presence of Deimos, and I know what you fear most."

"That wasn't half bad. If you can do that or better, we'll fool Phobos for sure!" Leo exclaimed.

I decided to go for a walk around the camp. Suddenly, an Iris-message appeared. It was from Malcolm.

"Hey Annabeth. Got any advice for us?" he asked. "We could really use it."

"What? Why, what's happening?" I asked in alarm.

"The entire camp is in chaos. You remember that secret council I mentioned?"

"You did. What about it?"

"Someone spied on our meeting and informed everyone about the upcoming disaster. This has caused tremendous panic and no one really knows what to do. Lou Ellen's magic is getting weaker. She's been defending us for three days now."

The barrier phased.

"The phasing... Is that because Lou's magic is getting weaker?"

His face turned grim. "It is. Rachael recited, 'When the barrier phases thrice, someone will pay the highest price.'"

"Oh gods... This is awful. Do you guys think you're ready for battle?"

"No one is ready. We're trying to prepare and get as many demigods as we can. Even those who haven't been here in years or were exiled. We've tried contacting Meg McCaffery, without much luck. Ella, Lou's sister, and only sibling, went out to find Alabaster C. Torrington."

"And the results?"

"She never came back. She either died or got lost, I don't know which."

"Annabeth? Is that you?" a voice asked.

Alyssa appeared with a black eye and several small scratches on her face.

I gasped. "Alyssa, what happened to you?!"

"I spied on the council. I thought their decision to hide the truth was a bad one, so I revealed the truth to everyone. Albert, who originally thought that telling everyone the truth was a good idea, hated me for doing that and we got into a cat fight. And this is the result." She started crying. "Why does everyone think I'm dumb? Why do they underestimate me?"

"Alyssa, you're not dumb." Malcolm said.

"He's right. You're being too hard on myself." I chimed in.

She sobbed. "I fear that I may have doomed the camp."

"It doesn't matter what was done. What matters is that we win this war. Everything will be alright." Malcolm said.

"How can you be so sure of that?" Albert asked.

"We must have faith. The gods will help us." Malcolm said.

"Mount Olympus is in shambles! The peace of Olympus is falling apart! We can't count on them to help us." Eric stated.

"How do you know that?" Henrietta asked.

Eric opened his mouth to say something and the barrier phased again. "That's once..." Albert said.

Then again. "That's twice..." Eric added.

And once more. "That's thrice." Malcolm said. The barrier collapsed as the war horn was blown three times. Malcolm and the rest of my half-siblings ran forth with the crowd. Except Alyssa.

"Annabeth... If this is the end, I want to thank you... For believing in me, when no one else did." She waved her hand through the rainbow, disconnecting me from the battle. I partially wished she hadn't done that, but at the same time, I didn't want to see my friends (or half-siblings) get hurt.

"Good luck... Little sister."

I sat by a tree. I prayed to Ares that my siblings and friends would survive and win the battle. I wanted to have faith in them, that they could win against Lamia and her forces, but I felt so sad. It felt like it was over. I didn't want to cry, but I felt stricken with sadness. A tear slid down my cheek.

Hazel approached me. "Hey Annabeth. Are you gonna join us for dinner?"

I looked at the sky. The sun was setting. "Oh, I didn't realize how late it was. I'll join you."

"Annabeth, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I didn't have the heart to tell her (or anyone for that matter) that Camp Half Blood was under attack. My friends had a battle to fight, and so did we. Tomorrow, we face Phobos in a hostage exchange. If something went wrong... I didn't want to think about it. I secretly hoped for the best.


	31. To Tell or Not to Tell

My dreams actually seemed to comfort me for once. Gwen was at C.C's Spa and Resort. She had finally made it to her destination. She walked in and saw how gorgeous the place was. White marble walls, blue waterfalls, it was beautiful. While she took it all in, two servants approached her.

"Oh hello, young lady. Would you like our normal spa or our premium treatment?" one of them asked.

"Um, actually..." she began.

"You totally want the premium treatment. Trust me, you'll love it!" the second one exclaimed.

Gwen was whisked off by the servants. She was given a bath by Circe's lieutenants. I saw them put lavender and vanilla oils into the bath along with a bunch of bubbles. One of the servants soaked her black hair, scrubbing it with shampoo as the other added lavender petals to the bath. Gwen at first, seemed kinda uncomfortable with it, but she went along with it. Similar as to how it was when I was there. After they bathed her, I saw her in a long gown-like dress that reached past her ankles to cover her feet. It flowed down to the floor, like a maxi and it had two colors- it was white on her right side while black on the left. The attendants began drying and brushing her hair. They put part of it into a small ponytail and let the rest of her hair flow free. Then they gave her a black and white jeweled necklace to complete the look. They brought her before a mirror, and she saw how beautiful she looked. Her green eyes couldn't believe the girl they saw in the reflection.

"So, what do you think?" the first one asked.

Gwen looked awestruck. "I love the makeover, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to speak to Circe."

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, young lady. I had to deal with a customer who needed to get her friend back." Circe said.

Circe was dressed in a long purple dress and her black hair was pulled into a bun. Her blue eyes were shimmering and she wore two pentagram bracelets, one on each of her wrists. Gwen had a really baffled expression on her face that said, _What?_

"You look really beautiful, by the way."

Gwen's face turned red briefly. "Um, thank you."

"How does it feel to be able to express yourself freely?"

"It feels great. It feels like... I don't have to hide who I am."

"You're the daughter of Thanatos. Don't worry, I don't discriminate."

"I appreciate that."

"You remind me of a former employee. Her name was Reyna. Only she was more tanned."

"I know her." Gwen said. "I know of Reyna and her sister Hylla."

Circe briefly paused. "Really? When my island was destroyed because of those pirates Annabeth and Percy released, nearly all of my servants had fled. I still hate them, but after months of fighting the pirates, I reclaimed my island. Reyna and Hylla were among those who ran. What became of them?"

"Hylla would eventually make her way to the Amazon Headquarters in Seattle, and she eventually became their queen. In fact, she sent me to find you. As for Reyna..." She hesitated. "She made her way to Camp Jupiter, and eventually became Praetor, but now... Things have taken a turn for the worse. She was poisoned with Pylosian Mint, and try as we might, no one could save her. I seek to restore her. I need a cure for Pylosian Mint. Unfortunately, I only have until January 21st to save her. Otherwise, I lose my soul to my wretched father." She got on her knees. "Please, help me Lady Circe. You may be the only one who can find a cure."

"One of the few." Circe answered. "I'm surprised you're not using the Golden Fleece that Camp Half-Blood has."

Gwen stood up. "It was stolen. No one knows who the thief is or where the fleece is."

"Oh my. Well, since you and Reyna are such nice girls, I'll help you out. Here's the recipe for the cure."

She handed a scroll to Gwen, who started reading aloud. " _Recipe for the Anonymous Antidote; ten petals from a moonlace flower, ten petals from a lavender flower, a single petal from nightshade flower, ten wild strawberries, a cup of fresh pineapple juice, a pinch of rosemary, pinch of thyme, pinch of basil, ginger root, three juniper berries, and a drop of magic._ Oh boy this looks complicated."

"It's a complicated recipe for expert potionists." Circe stated. "One wrong move, and the entire batch is ruined. You'll know if you made a mistake if the end result is not a bright pink brew."

Gwen read over the directions. "Well, this is going to be harder than I thought."

"Don't worry." Circe said. "Since I'm nice, I'll give you some ingredients, but it's up to you to make the potion correctly."

Gwen nodded. I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock. It was time to commence with the plan. I put on my invisibility cap and started walking alongside my friends to the cemetery. Leo and Percy held "Deimos" in their arms, carefully carrying him to the cemetery. Phobos stood there with Calypso.

He looked at my friends amusingly. "So you guys actually showed up?"

"We want our friend back." Percy said.

"Deimos is now free." Jason said, undoing the chains around our imposter Deimos.

"Release Calypso!" Leo commanded.

Phobos studied pseudo-Deimos. He put his arm on fake Deimos. "He's real."

"No tricks. No illusions. We're all here in the flesh, along with our prisoner." Hazel stated.

I quietly made my way over to Calypso if Phobos should not keep his word.

"Very well. Calypso is as free as a bird."

"Halt!" an ear-splitting voice screamed.

Someone showed up. It was the real Deimos. We were doomed. I started freeing Calypso. I tried to be quiet about it, but that was rather difficult.

"Deimos? But you're supposed to be..."

"Think again! Those insufferable demigods locked me in a suitcase and interrogated me! They made some mere demigod replace me!"

Phobos glared at my friends. "We thought your boss wouldn't keep her word!" Percy retorted.

"She called herself Deceiver of the Gods." their half-sister spoke.

They all heard the sound of the last chain break. Calypso arose and started firing green energy blasts at them. She had the ability to cast magic and manipulate the Mist (to an extent), even she wasn't as powerful as a child of Hecate. Which also makes me wonder how she was captured.

"You are liars and deceivers! Destroy them all!" Phobos ordered.

The battle had begun. Since I was already invisible, I decided to strike Phobos from behind. Mostly as payback for attempting to kill me. Phobos screamed in agony.

"What the hell was that?!" He backflipped to avoid Percy's strike.

Dakota was fighting against the god he impersonated. Using a sword in his right hand, he grabbed Dakota with his left, and not only give him scrapes and cuts, but destroyed his disguise as well. Jason threw lightning at Deimos, only for it to miss.

"I forgot to mention; Annabeth's alive!" Deimos exclaimed. They heard me gasp.

"She's hiding in the shadows! Where is she?!"

"Annabeth, we know you're here! Show yourself!"

I laughed like a madwoman. "You'll never find me."

"You think you're so clever, huh?"

"You coward!"

I scoffed. "I'm not a coward!"

"If you're not a coward, come out and face us!" Phobos taunted.

I took off my invisibility cap. "I'm no coward! If you think I'm a scared helpless demigoddess in distress then you are wrong!" I then realized that they did this to lure me out of hiding. "Oh crap..."

Phobos tried to strike me with his sword but I evaded his attack and turned it back. I fought him with my dagger.

"So you still live? How do you live knowing what happened?"

I was puzzled. "Huh?"

"You know what I'm talking about... One of your worst fears coming true... You never told them."

I remembered what happened. Camp Half Blood's borders fell. Percy looked towards me as Leo and Dakota tied up Deimos. "Annabeth, what happened? Annabeth?!"


	32. The Price of Victory

To prevent myself from succumbing to fear, I started sobbing.

I answered, "Camp Half Blood's protective borders have fallen. Our home may have been destroyed..."

In sadness, I stabbed Phobos in the chest and kicked him down. The others tied him up. Jason and Piper kept watch over the two evil gods. I continued sobbing.

"Annabeth... I'm sure they're alright."

"How would you know that?"

Suddenly I saw another vision. It was of Camp Half-Blood. The cabins of Hera, Hecate, Ares, Demeter and Apollo had been destroyed. Chiron was standing at a wooden stage with several burial shrouds.

"Now that we have survived this battle, let us not forget those who died to defend this camp. Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite. Jake Mason, son of Hephaestus. Victora Avery, daughter of Apollo. A dozen severe injures, including Valentina Diaz and Chiara Benvenuti, Lou Ellen's protectors. As for Lou Ellen herself... she is in a coma. She nearly died to protect this camp, but she didn't want to tell you because she knew it wouldn't last forever. Me and a few demigods knew the truth, and we are sorry for lying to you. We didn't want to create a feeling of dread. This feeling of dread will exist no longer. Our prayers have been heard, and Poseidon has sent a legion of cyclopses to defend the camp, led by Tyson."

"Monsters come here. We smash them!" Tyson shouted from afar.

"Wait a minute. Where is Alyssa?" Eric asked.

My half-siblings looked for her, but Alyssa was nowhere in sight.

"She's gone!" they exclaimed.

"Where is she?" Eric asked.

"She joined us for combat didn't she? She ran into battle with us." Albert stated.

"She ran behind us." Henrietta corrected. "She stayed behind for a few moments to say farewell to our sister."

"Her exact words were, 'Annabeth... If this is the end, I want to thank you... For believing in me, when no one else did.' Then she charged forth and slayed monsters with us." Malcolm recalled.

"Where could she have gone?" Eric asked.

"What about Rachael's prophecy? 'When the barrier phases thrice, someone will pay the highest price.'" Henrietta recited.

"Who paid the highest price?" Albert asked. He looked at the palm of his hand. It had been cut by Alyssa in their fight. "Guys... I think Alyssa ran away. And I think it's my fault."

"What? That can't be true!" Henrietta exclaimed.

"Actually, it is." Rachael said.

The current Oracle of Delphi was wearing a white dress with golden sandals. Her red hair was loose, curly and messy, but she still looked beautiful.

"Rachael Elizabeth Dare... What happened?" Malcolm asked.

"Alyssa ran away, feeling unwanted and degraded by her half-siblings, mainly Albert. I do not know where she is now, but I have a premonition that she will meet a fate worse than death." Rachael stated.

"Oh no..." Albert whispered. He suddenly burst into tears. "Alyssa... I'm sorry..."

The vision ended. I gasped. Percy and the others were looking at me.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" he asked.

I sobbed. "Alyssa's gone."

"Pardon?" Leo asked.

I explained to them what I saw about Camp Half Blood. Hazel was very perplexed, as if she was thinking about something. Piper however, derailed her train of thought. "Um, guys? What are we going to do with my evil half-brothers?"

Frank answered, "We need to imprison them back at Camp Jupiter."

"Bad idea, they'll escape again!" Jason exclaimed.

"How did he even escape the first time?" I asked.

"Oh man, I forgot to lock the room! Oh, I'm such a fool!" Frank exclaimed.

"But that doesn't explain how he got out of his chains." I added.

Suddenly, a god appeared out of nowhere in a cloud of black smoke. He saw us and smiled.

"Oh, no wonder I couldn't find my daughter."

"Hades?" Percy asked.

"Pluto?" Jason asked.

Hazel blinked her eyes. "Father?"

Pluto smiled upon seeing his daughter. "Hello Hazel. I see you and your friends have..." He looked closer at our prisoners. "Wait a second! Is that, Phobos and Deimos?!"

"It is. My half-brothers have joined forces with a rogue hunter of Artemis."

"So they have. Great. That's all we needed." he sarcastically quipped.

Deimos struggled to break free. "Oh no, you don't!" Jason said, pulling on the chain.

"How do you plan on detaining these two?" he inquired.

"I don't know.. Maybe... you could you take them?"

"You're asking me what?"

"My lord and my future father in law," Frank said, kneeling. "I know we are asking much of you, especially on such short notice, but we can't think of any other way to imprison them. We tried keeping Deimos captive, and he escaped. If those two return to their mistress, it will end disastrously! We'll be back at square two!"

"Wouldn't that be square one?" Calypso asked.

"No, Cal, square one is not knowing who we're up against. Square two is knowing where she and her allies are located." Leo answered.

"We'll fill you in later." Jason said. "A lot has happened in your absence."

"Will you help us?" Frank asked.

"Hmm. Well, since you're such an honest guy. Alright, but just this once. Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone!"

The Furies appeared before Hades.

"Yes, master?" Megaera asked.

"What do you need done?" Alecto asked.

"I need you to take those two chained gods down to the Underworld and imprison them."

"Right away." they said.

They then formed a cage around the two gods.

"Where do we put them?" Tisiphone asked.

"Hmm... For now... put them in the Judgement Pavilion. I'll figure out what to do with them later. It is imperative that you do not let them escape. If either of them escape their cage, all three of you will be punished! Understood?"

"Yes master." they answered.

"Megaera, Tisiphone, carry the cage. I'll stand guard to make sure no one attacks us." Alecto ordered.

"Why do we have to carry the cage?" Tisiphone asked.

"Because I'm the one who gets all the dirty work!" Alecto angrily answered. "Mix it up a bit! Now let's move!"

The Furies disappeared with the caged gods, then Hades disappeared.


	33. I Witness An Interesting Proposal

We went back to Camp Jupiter afterwards. As time passed by, I saw Hazel holding a gem in her hands. It looked like a blue topaz.

"Hey Hazel. What's with the blue topaz?"

"Shh. Not so loud!" she whispered.

"What's the deal?"

She looked at me with sincerity. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course."

"Good. Now come with me." She lead me away from New Rome to a forge. "Hey, Leo, I got the gem. Did you get the gold into it's proper shape yet?"

"Almost done. I assume you already cut and polished the gem?"

"You are correct."

"Excellent. Hand it to me and I'll finish making the ring."

I looked at Hazel as she handed the gem to Leo. "You're custom making an engagement ring for Frank. Aw, that's so cute!"

"Now you know why I asked you if you could keep a secret."

She nodded. "You and Leo aren't the only ones in on this. Piper, Calypso and Jason know as well. In fact, after Leo finishes forging the engagement ring for Frank, they will create a romantic atmosphere to set the mood. Then, at the right moment, I'll ask him to marry me."

"And done! One engagement ring, forged by Leonidas Valdez."

"Fabulous. Thanks for your help, Leo!"

He smiled, radiating warmth. "No problem, sister."

"Hey Annabeth, since you're here, you got any ideas on how to go with this proposal?"

"Hmm. Let's see what Piper, Calypso and Jason have in mind."

The five of us met at the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maxmius. The night sky was lit up with the moon and numerous stars.

"What about a romantic dinner here at Camp Jupiter tomorrow? Me, Jason and Annabeth will be the servers and you two can just relax." Piper suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." I commented. "It would give us all a break from this chaos, even if it's only a day. But who's going to do the cooking?"

"Leo Valdez of course. He's a great chef." Jason answered.

"Should I drag Percy into this?" I asked.

"Sure, why not? He can help Leo in the kitchen. I'll get a recipe book for Leo Valdez and tell him to be the chef."

Hazel then ran off. She told us that Leo happily agreed to be the chef, and I ran off to find Percy. I found him in his dorm.

"Hey Percy, can I ask you to do me and Hazel a favor?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Hazel is planning on proposing to Frank. We have a plan to create the perfect atmosphere. We need you to assist Leo in cooking their dinner. Can you do it?"

Percy shrugged. "I know very little about cooking, but ok."

"Sweet! Thanks Percy."

We set up the scene. It was on the balcony of a nice restaurant in New Rome. Several hours had passed, and Leo and Percy were busy preparing the appetizer. Me, Calypso, Jason and Piper stood to the side, out of sight. Frank and Hazel were dressed in their best attire (a suit borrowed from Michael and Hazel, a purple dress she loaned from Venus), and we were already in our server uniforms.

"What... what are we doing here?" Frank asked.

"Oh, I just thought it might be nice to enjoy a night to ourselves instead of hunting some evil maiden."

Frank pushed Hazel's chair to the table and then sat himself down.

"So who's cooking?"

"Leo Valdez. With the help of Percy Jackson." Hazel answered. "They've already prepared a meal for us. Now we just sit back and enjoy."

He smiled. As Jason walked up to take their drink orders, I thought back on last night's dream. The rogue maiden known as Diana, Eris, Enyo and Clytius had entered their not-so secret lair. The events of this dream took place numerous days before Deimos's capture.

"Oh boys, we're back!" Diana exclaimed.

"And we brought a friend!" Eris added.

Deimos fell out of his chair. "You recruited Clytius?!"

Diana smiled. "We sure did."

"So, who all do we have in this faction?"

"Well, I have willing allies and mind controlled victims. For willing allies, we got Eris and Enyo, you've already met them. Along with Phobos, Deimos, Janus, Phorcys, Keto, Hercules, and Atlas. As for victims, there's Athena, Nathan, Marcus, Patricia, also called Sandy, and my butler, Nickolas Nicoll. He was actually one of Percy's former teachers." She snapped her fingers.

Nicoll ran up to her. "Yes, mistress?"

"Bring me a pina colada."

Clytius saw the butler run off. "So, where are the other victims?"

"Athena's running around blindly, because the gods cursed her to never find Percy Jackson. They don't know that the curse will eventually wear off. Nathan is the augur of Camp Jupiter. Under my control, he tried to kill Frank in hopes of becoming praetor and supposedly "restore" Camp Jupiter to its former glory. However, he was stopped and thrown in a bone jail. I tried controlling Marcus to free him, but Percy stopped both of them and now they're both in the slammer. And as for Patricia, she's roaming around New York City, avoiding her sister, Nancy Bobofit, who is searching for her endlessly."

Nicoll brought her a yellow and white beverage in a tall glass. "Your drink, madame."

"Thank you. You may go."

He disappeared. She started sipping on her beverage. Clytius looked at the members of her faction. "You have a lot of gods in your faction for someone who wants to bring down the Olympians."

"Well, unfortunately, with the defeat of Kronos and Gaea, my options for brothers and sisters in arms are limited."

Clytius looked around. "Where's Khione?"

"She refused to join us." Keto answered. "Such a pity she must suffer for it."

Hercules glanced at Clytius, then at Diana. "You actually got him on your side. I'm surprised."

Clytius smirked. "What's the matter Herc? Don't you trust me?"

"Don't call me that. And second, I know who you are. If you try to hurt Diana I swear I will..."

"Hey, hey, calm down! He's not going to hurt me." She realized she had placed her hands on his chest. She hastily removed them. "I know you don't trust him. And you have valid reasons for not trusting him, as you fought him, and many of his brethren, in the First Giant War. But Clytius is on our side. I can't force you two to get along, but could you at least try to be polite to each other?"

He sighed. "I'll try. No promises."

"Thank you." She whispered into his ear, "And if he does hurt me, I'll come running to you and you can help me destroy him."

"Mistress, may I speak with you privately?"

They walked to a back porch. It was late night and the moon could be seen, illuminating the night sky.

"What did you want to speak to me about?"

"My mistress... I... want you to know that I'll always be here for you. Even if your allies abandon you, I'll be here until the bitter end."

She looked at the former demigod curiously. "You look at me with such adoring eyes. Don't you have a wife?"

"I care nothing about Hebe. In fact, I hate her. But I do have feelings for someone else."

"And if you don't mind me asking, who might that be?"

"Well, actually. The woman I love... is one I'll never have. It's you."

She raised her eyebrows. "Me?"

"Yes. But you're a Hunter of Artemis, and I'm a god. For us, love is illegal."

"Perhaps, but even then, I have no loyalty to Artemis. You and Atlas know that. And while I see you simply as a friend, I will admit you are devilishly handsome."

He smiled. "Many people tell me that."

"Tell you what. After I take over Olympus and become Queen of the Comsos, I might, just might, let you rule alongside me."

"Really? That would be most wonderful."

That was all that I had seen. I tried to shove that dream to the back of my head for now as I carried their salads from the kitchen to the private balcony where Frank and Hazel were. Everything seemed to be going well. Extremely well. As Piper brought out their dessert, I saw Calypso to the side, watching and waiting with a camera.

"Frank... You're the love of my life. I know we've been dancing around the idea for years." She started reaching for her box. "I know this isn't really traditional... But..." She got out the box and bent on one knee. "Frank Zhang, will you marry me?"

"Oh Hazel... Yes!"

She slid the engagement ring onto his finger and then he kissed her. While I felt happy for them, I couldn't help but feel sad for some reason. But was it part of a mood swing or was it genuine? Then I overheard Piper and Jason talk about details of their future wedding, implying it was going to happen soon. I tried to shove those thoughts aside. Tomorrow morning, we invade the secret lair. Hopefully, all this chaos would be over by the end of it.


	34. Two Steps Backward, One Step Forward

We were about to invade the lair. All eight of us were equipped with at least two different weapons. We stood outside the Los Feliz Mansion, where Diana and her loonies were hiding. I got out my invisibility cap and put it on. I was surprised and amazed that my mother didn't disenchant it. _Then again,_ I thought to myself. _It was Percy she was angry with, not me. I thought she had accepted me and Percy's relationship though... I guess I was wrong..._

Percy looked at us. "Are you guys ready?"

I tried to push down a feeling of nervousness. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let's move."

We proceeded with caution. Much to my surprise, we weren't ambushed first thing when we went in. Then again, we did enter through the back entrance instead of walking up an incline slope to the front entrance. We slowly passed through the deserted halls and went up the stairs.

"This seems weird." Leo mentioned.

Hazel looked around. No one was here. "Could they have known that we were coming and left?"

"That's impossible. Diana's allies are not cowards." Percy stated.

I wanted to say that we may have walked into a trap, but I didn't want to scare my friends. Then without any warning, we were surrounded by monsters. Several venti, Stymphalian birds, Scthian Dracaene, Lycanthropes (better known as werewolves), and flesh eating horses. None of which were pleasant. Using my trusted dagger and my bone sword, I silently and swiftly took out any unsuspecting monsters (mostly the flesh-eating horses). Meanwhile, Leo threw fire at the werewolves to slow down and then Calypso finished them with a silver dagger. Piper threw several fruits at the Stymphalian birds to ground them before stabbing them with her dagger. Jason simply banished the storm spirits and then helped Percy finish the remaining dracaene.

"I fear may this may be a trap."

"Indeed you're right, Ms. Chase." a feminine voice answered.

We turned around to find Keto, Phorcys, and Janus. Janus wore a black and white tunic and since he was the god of decisions, he had two faces, in which it was impossible to see them both at once. I remembered this guy. I did not like him. Keto and Phorcys however, were new. The goddess had a long black ponytail and ocean blue eyes. She wore an ankle length dark blue dress with long sleeves with black heels. Phorcys had milky blue eyes and black greased hair. The god wore a blue suit, complete with a tie and black dress shoes.

Janus's right sight looked towards us. "That was just a warm up." The left side then said, "Now the real trial begins. In which, you will all probably die!"

I tried not to feel intimated. Jason glared at the Roman god of beginnings and endings. "Janus, why are you aiding this evil maiden?"

"Oh Jason Grace, it's not about why. It's about why not." he answered.

As Leo, Jason and Piper teamed up on Phorcys, me and Percy teamed up on Keto. "It's about time we got revenge for Percy destroying our aquarium in Atlanta!"

I stabbed Keto in the back, injuring her. She screamed in agony. She was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of immortal beings. Keto threw a waterball at Percy, but he effortlessly threw it back at her twice as hard. Keto was the goddess of sea monsters, so she had some power over water. How much, I was not quite sure.

"We know you're here, Annabeth!" Phorcys exclaimed. He doused Leo's fire by throwing a gush of running water at him. He coughed and Phorcys snapped his fingers. Suddenly the room started filling with water. We all gasped.

"Annabeth Chase, if you want to save your friends, and yourself, you'll reveal yourself to us and face us head on!" the left side of Janus exclaimed. "If you refuse, it'll be the end for you and your little friends!"

Hazel and Calypso tried striking the god with their weapons, to no avail. Why were my enemies always trying to lure me out of hiding in the shadows? I looked at the scene. There was no way Percy could protect all of us. He'd spread himself too thin if he even tried! I had to figure something out, but what? Then I remembered that this mansion is several decades old, and therefore, slowly falling apart. I had an idea. A stupid idea that could fail, but an idea. Looking at the window, I run over there and slashed the wall repetitively with both weapons.

"Come on, Annabeth, it's not a hard choice to make!" the right side said.

"I'll never fall for your tricks again, Janus!" I exclaimed.

Using my weapons, I created a big hole in the wall, draining a lot of the water out of the room.

"No! You found a way around the ultimatum!" Janus's right side exclaimed.

I smirked, although no one could see it. Soon the trio knocked out Phorcys and soon Janus was out like a light.

"Phorcys!" She growled in anger. "You hurt my husband! You guys are gonna pay!"

Leo threw a frying pan at her, knocking her out. Jason then created ropes of lightning and Leo imprisoned them within fire.

"Now to find the other punks." Piper said.

We went to the top. Diana and her allies were nowhere to be found. In the bedroom, we did find a holographic message. It showed an image of Diana on a scroll. I took off my invisibility cap and grabbed the scroll. Her holographic pixel avatar was blue. The holograph smirked.

"Oh hello little heroes. Looks like you survived the trials. Too bad you'll never find the rest of us. We've relocated to a new facility. You'll never find us so you might as well give up now! And yes, I did know you were coming. That's why I sent Keto, Phorcys and Janus after you. Give in little heroes, time is not on your side. You'll never figure out the grand plan for domination. You're powerless to stop me. Oh, and by the way, the building will set on fire at ten o'clock. Good luck getting out alive!"

Frank looked at his watch. 9:59. I stuffed the scroll into my pocket and then Percy screamed, "Run!"

We were in trouble. Too bad it was hard to run without running out of breath. I was getting dizzy but I had to keep going. Suddenly, shrill alarms rang through the air. I smelled smoke. The fire was getting closer.

"Annabeth!" a familiar voice called out.

I saw Percy and the others down below me. By now the entire house was ablaze. My friends were too far away. I wanted to believe that I could save myself. I looked down below me. The fall would be at least two stories worth. With no other choice, I jumped, taking a leap of faith. I flipped in midair and landed on my feet. Suddenly I felt uneasy.

"Annabeth, are you okay?" Percy asked.

"I'll be fine." I answered. "I can't believe that we've been duped."

Hazel was really ticked off. "How did the rogue maiden know we were coming?!"

"That matters little now that she's vanished." Frank commented.

"He's right." Jason sighed. "We better get back to Camp Jupiter."

We were mostly relaxing for the rest of the day. I was in my dorm, looking at the holographic message. The hologram showed the evil maiden with her hood up, but it was obvious to tell that it was her. I was trying to figure out who Diana really was. Not just her real name, but her parentage, her true powers and most importantly, her past. I remembered the legend of Sandya, and the evil girl named Tiana. I was thinking that one of them could be the evil maiden... but which one?


	35. Gwen Argues with the Dead

We tried finding the new lair, without very much luck. Luckily, nothing bad happened. At 9:30, we all caved in and went to bed. My dreams were (yet again) strange, confusing and/or horrifying. The first dream I saw was of the young girl who had meet her death by drowning in the ocean after being chased by wolves. She looked about the same age as she was in the previous flashback. She was in a village in ancient Greece. She wore a white tunic and she ran her fingers through her long black hair. A woman approached the young girl.

"Mother... What ever happened to father? Why did he leave us?"

The woman (who was actually Daphne from that one dream with the golden light) looked towards her daughter. "Sweetheart... Father never even knew of your existence."

The girl was saddened. "He didn't?"

"No. As for why he left... I never really knew."

The girl turned away. "I keep seeing all these strange visions... I can't seem to understand why they're happening though..."

"I think those visions are just in your head."

"Mom... you will always be here for me... right?"

"Of course I will, sweetie. I love you and you're my child. I will always be here for you."

Then the scene switched. The young girl stood under a tree under a hill. From afar, she saw a house on fire and gasped. She started running towards the fire and found her mother entrapped within the crumbling walls.

"Mom? Mom, where are you?!"

Daphne's voice could be heard from afar. "Horatia. Why are you here?!"

"I came to save you."

"Horatia. You mustn't step any closer! You'll get trapped here and suffer the same fate. Go, run! Run as fast you can! It's only a matter of time before they come after you."

"Before who comes after me? What's happening?! Tell me!"

"Just run! Run while you can!"

"Mom!"

The girl, named Horatia, was crying. Then she heard a loud howling. A pack of wolves had shown up. As her mother met her fiery demise, Horatia was running away from her own death. Then it showed her falling again. Time was slowing down, then it had stopped. It briefly showed Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades against Kronos before turning back to Horatia. She gasped, time resumed and she then fell into the ocean. Who was this girl? Is it possible that... No. There's no way. This girl couldn't possibly be Diana. Diana was cruel, malevolent rebellious maiden bent on domination. Horatia was a nice girl who wanted to save and protect those dear to her. And who or what sent those wolves after her? And more importantly, why?

The vision then switched to Diana in her new lair. She was pacing around very angrily.

"I can't believe those heroes defeated Keto, Phorcys and Janus! I thought they would be creamed for sure!"

Atlas turned to the maiden. "What do we do now?"

"I have written out a plan to destroy our foes once and for all."

She got out a scroll and passed it around to Atlas. Then he passed to Hercules, and one by one, everyone read the rogue maiden's evil plan.

"Why didn't you just tell us aloud the plan?" Enyo asked.

The maiden smirked. "Great plans need no words."

Kampe sat down in a reclining beach chair. "So now... we wait."

Joe Bob, Skull Eater and Marrow Sucker, all Laistrygon Giants, groaned loudly. "I hate waiting." the first one complained.

"Oh don't worry. In the meantime, we will continue to cause chaos and further divide the Olympians."

"Isn't Pheme making that job a bit too easy though?" Chrysaor asked.

"Oh she doesn't even realize that she's helping us."

Hercules looked towards Diana. "Do you think you could corrupt her?"

The maiden raised her eyebrows, and then she smirked. "You know. That is actually a great idea. I will corrupt her. Right now."

She snapped her fingers and disappeared in a flash of gold light.

"Hey Chryasaor, didn't you mean to get Geryon on our side?" Skull Eater asked.

Chryasaor gasped. "I did, and I forgot to mention it to the boss! How could I have forgotten?"

Enyo raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Percy Jackson kill him years ago?"

"Oh he reformed quicker thanks to Gaea, but he didn't get to join her for the Second Giant War." Clytius answered. "Such a shame."

"Hey you!" Hercules pointed to Marrow Sucker. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding our prisoners?"

The monster sighed. "I always get stuck guarding them! It's so boring!"

Atlas sighed. "Alright then, we'll assign someone else to it for a while. Kampe! Guard Hera and Hestia!"

She hissed and slithered off. "So, who's the second in command here?" Clytius asked.

"Me and Atlas were fighting for second in command, so for now, we're both General/Lieutenant of Diana's faction." Hercules answered. "I know Atlas is used to being second in command.

"I'm more qualified than you are, Herc."

Hercules shot him a dirty look. "Don't get all high and mighty cause you were Kronos's lieutenant."

"Don't be so cocky cause you were once a hero!"

They glared at each other. "Calm down you two. Nobody wants to see you fight." Chryasaor said.

"I agree with the thief." Clytius stated.

Then the scene switched. Gwen was roaming in the forest. She held a list in her hand that read, _retrieve 10 lavender flower petals, ten wild strawberries, and a d_ _rop of magic._ She had a black cloak with her hood up. Perhaps she was trying to hide her true face from nature spirits. She briefly stopped under a tree to rest.

 _At least Circe already has most of the ingredients. Don't worry, Reyna. Soon you'll be restored._

 _Why are you doing this? What do you expect to gain by accomplishing this?_

 _I'm trying to save Camp Jupiter._

 _Even if you should resurrect me, the curse won't be broken. I fear Camp Jupiter may be cursed forever._

 _Don't say that!_

 _Why not? I have every right to say it._ Reyna's spirit sighed. _I know you're one of the most optimistic legionaries in Camp Jupiter, but you should just let me go._

Gwen continued searching. _Reyna. You don't understand. All that optimism hides a dark and tormented soul. I've hidden my powers for years, and now I feel more exposed than ever. Nobody but the seven heroes know the truth, and everyone else thinks I'm just a legacy of Pluto without powers. But that's far from the truth. Octavian's predecessor knew the truth, but he didn't care. Octavian found out, but I made him swear not to say a word. During the war games, he attempted to kill me because of my power and nearly succeeded. Had my father not been chained up, I would have remained dead. I fear what would happen if the other campers knew...  
_

 _And what if your husband knew? Would he accept?_

 _Probably not. He'd blame me for the miscarriage and probably try to divorce me. And don't you remember what I told you about how Nathan blamed me? He was right about one thing; the curse is all my fault. That's why I'm willing to risk everything to make things right._

Gwen got all of the wild strawberries and then formed a crack in the ground, quickly making her way to who knows where. I woke up to the sound of a trumpet being played. I got up and then saw Leo with a music player.

"Any reason for that?"

"I just thought it might be fun to do a little prank to liven up your spirits."

Part of me was tempted to grab him by the collar, but I remind myself to stay calm. _Save your anger for the monsters._ I tell myself.

"So where are the others?"

"They're already up. It's 11:05. I'm surprised you didn't get up earlier."

"11:05? Oh man, I've been asleep for over twelve hours! Why didn't you get me up sooner?"

Leo shrugged. "So what's the game plan?"

"I'm not sure. With Diana and her allies relocated, we're back at square two."

"Look on the bright side. Nobody's dead, nobody's in captivity, and nobody's pregnant. Oh wait, forget that last one. But still, everything's alright."

"For now..."

"Are you still nervous about the interview?"

I nodded. "Very much so."

"That interview is in how many days?"

"The interview is on Saturday, January 7th, so... 12 days."

"That seems like plenty of time to emotionally prepare yourself."

"Then why does it feel like so little?"

"I don't really know. By the way, something I almost forgot to mention. This coming Friday, Piper and Jason will finally be having their wedding. She also wants you to be the maid of honor."

I nearly choked. "Me?"

"Yeah. What's your response? Are you in or not?"

Without even thinking, I answered, "Yeah, I'm in."

Leo smiled. "Alright. Piper will be very happy to hear this."

He ran off to tell Piper about my decision. I began to have second thoughts about this.


	36. The Maid of Dishonor

It was the 26th of December. Piper and Jason's wedding was in only four days. We already had the bridal shower and the bachelor/bachelorette party, so all that was left was the rehearsal and the actual marriage day. Jason and Piper already had their wedding ensemble determined. So, Hazel took us, one by one, to our residences. She thought that if she tried to take more than one person, that she would fall unconscious for hours. Leo, Percy and Frank were able to find suits, ties, but the last one needed another pair of dress shoes. While he was out shopping, Hazel came back to our apartment complex in New Rome.

"Is there anyone I missed?"

"What about Annabeth?"

"Oh yeah, right."

We went to me and Percy's apartment. I looked at my closet in my room and searched for dresses. I had a black dress (which would be perfect for my upcoming interview), and a purple dress sometimes used for social outings, dinner parties and dances. Nothing for being a maid of honor.

"Well, looks like you're going shopping. Is there anything else you would like to do while you're here?"

"Yeah, just give me a few minutes."

I set my interview ensemble on my bed; my black dress, a pair of a black flats, and even a small pair of fake diamond earrings. Then, I looked around for any jewelry and accessories to wear. I didn't want to be accused of trying to steal the thunder from Piper since she was the bride to be, but I wanted to use at least one accessory that would draw the attention away from my stomach in hopes of being able to conceal my pregnancy (even if it was barely noticeable). I looked through the jewelry box. I found my Camp Half Blood necklace. Pretty, but not going to cut it. Then I found two gold colored bracelets. Next. A pseudo gold colored and fake gem bracelet. Nope. Then I found a genuine amethyst necklace. It looked gorgeous. I pocketed it so Hazel couldn't see it.

"Alright Hazel. Let's go shopping."

To prevent Hazel from fainting from shadow travel exhaustion, we decided to walk to the nearest dress store. I thought I saw the silhouette of Patricia, but I decided to dismiss it. When we got to the dress store, we found that there weren't too many people here, much to my delight. The store had several dresses of all kinds and colors.

Hazel's jaw dropped. "Wow, this place has a lot of dresses."

"Luckily, I already have an idea of what I'm looking for."

To match the amethyst necklace I found in my jewelry box, I looked for purple dresses. I figured it would work out well with Piper wearing a white dress and the bridesmaids (Hazel and Calypso) both wearing light pink gowns. I found two of them, one in lavender and one in royal purple. The lavender dress was a left shoulder strap that fell to my ankles, which would expose my black flats (which wasn't a problem), but when I added the necklace, the whole look seemed.. wrong. Out of place.

"Well, let me see how you look." Hazel said. I got out of the fitting room. "You look beautiful in that."

"You think so?" I asked. "I don't think my necklace goes well with it."

"Hmm?" She looked closer at my neckline, examining the necklace. "Where did you get that?"

"It was in my jewelry box."

"Why exactly are you wearing it?"

"I'm trying to make sure no one discovers... the truth."

Hazel was confused at first, but then she widened her eyebrows and was still baffled. "But it wouldn't really be visible at this stage, would it?"

"A little bit." I sighed. "I might be paranoid that somebody will find out, but concurrently, I don't want to take attention away from the bride on her special day."

"Who gets more attention, the bridesmaids or the maid of honor?"

I shrugged. "Let me try on the other dress."

I got the other dress; a royal purple strapless Faviana flowing chiffon gown. It looked really gorgeous. I tried it on, and it looked beautiful. It matched with my necklace perfectly, but I thought I looked too beautiful for someone who wasn't the bride.

"Well, what do you think?"

"You look gorgeous. Almost a bit too gorgeous."

I sighed. "I feared you might say that."

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad would it be if the wedding guests knew of your pregnancy?"

"Well..." I rubbed my arm awkwardly. "Probably an eight. Pregnant maids of honor are unheard of. I just don't want many people to know, is that bad?"

"Not necessarily, although you might be paranoid."

"Perhaps I am. Remind me, you said you'd help me pay for this?"

"I'll pay for the entire cost of this dress, but only this once."

"Thanks, Hazel."

She smiled and winked at me. "What are friends for?"

After we got the dress, we went back, and then we went through the wedding rehearsal the following afternoon. The wedding was to take place at the Palace of Fine Arts, a wedding hall in San Francisco, and gods, it was one of the most beautiful wedding halls I had ever been in. The entire ground was beautiful. The Roman and Greek design of the architecture, the gardens, the reflection of the palace in the lake (especially at night). It was gorgeous. To me, this place represented everything uniting, bringing everything together, which made it even more perfect for Piper, the daughter of Aphrodite, and Jason, the son of Jupiter. Truth be told, I felt a little jealous. The wedding reception was also to be held in another area of the building. We stood at the Acropolis. I stood closer to the bride-to be, holding a replica of the pink rose bouquet she would hand to me during the ceremony. The bridesmaids were further back than I was. Leo (the best man), and the groomsmen, Percy and Frank all stood to the side as the marriage officiant spoke before Jason and Piper recited their marriage vows.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." he said.

Jason lifted up Piper's veil and kissed her. She kissed him back, ending the practice ceremony.

Leo gave them two thumbs up. "Perfect! No problems, no hitches. If this happens all over again tomorrow, it'll be perfect."

Piper had told me that during the ceremony, she would surprise Jason by putting her veil to the side and kissing him. As everyone left, I stayed.

My boyfriend looked back at me. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll catch up with you in a few minutes."

He walked off. I looked at the Acropolis, and then I looked back down at the columns around me. Why did I feel so sad, and even a bit angry? I didn't think it was a mood swing. I walked to the stone pathway and walked around the area. Then I realized... Piper and Jason are getting married, Frank and Hazel are engaged, Leo's in the process of making a ring for Calypso, and as for me and Percy? We did something that many people would consider wrong and immoral. And we weren't married or engaged. I knew the shame of Scarlett letters didn't really exist anymore, but I still feared being ridiculed, scolded and shamed. And some people still did shame girls for having sex before marriage. Not only did I consent and really go along with it, but I had enjoyed it! Now I was with Percy's child, and I wasn't even seeing a doctor. What was wrong with me?

I sighed. I felt like I didn't deserve being the maid of honor. Maid was short for maiden, but I wasn't really a maiden. I wasn't a matron either. I felt out of place. Why did Piper ask me to be the maid of honor? Oh yeah, she wanted someone who could handle the responsibility of it. Although, even though I arranged everything, I felt like I was under pressure. I felt like I was wearing a mask. Piper had no idea that I was struggling to handle it all. I needed advice. I looked at my contacts list. I needed to talk to someone who would really understand me. _Let's see here... Amir, Carter, Dad, Erica, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Leo, Magnus, Percy, Piper, Sadie..._

That was nearly everyone on my contacts list. _Where is Sam?_ I looked at my contacts again. _Sadie, Walt, Zia..._ I don't get it. I thought I had Sam's number. I tried to see if I could remember it. I punched in the number and waited. Ring... I sat down on a bench where the guests would be sitting. Ring... Ring... She answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi Sam. Remember me?"

Sam chuckled. "How could I forget? Nice to hear from you Annabeth."


	37. Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

The day had arrived. I was trying to be quiet about my true emotions and brush Piper's hair. (She asked me to style her hair using a step by step internet guide.) Her long brown hair was usually not brushed, so I had to use a lot of detangling spray on it. It was about an hour before the actual wedding. We had a lot of time, so I dared not rush, despite my urge to brush her hair quickly.

"Are you nervous?" I ask, trying to start a conversation.

"A little. I mean, this is the one day I look and feel like extremely beautiful, as if I was a goddess."

"I know it must feel weird for you to be in a wedding dress because you're kinda tomboyish, but this is your day to shine."

I finished brushing her hair and styled it as shown. Her hair was in a top bun, and afterwards, she put on her veil. I was surprised she decided to wear it (especially since it covered her face), but she wanted to surprise Jason.

"Annabeth, may I ask for a few moments of your time?" Hazel asked.

"Oh, sure. Absolutely!"

I left the room.

"It looks like everyone is here." Hazel said.

"Nobody suspicious." I added.

I looked at the guests entering the seating area. On the left, Piper's half-siblings, Lacy, Valentina, Mitchell, and numerous other children of Aphrodite whom I did not know where there. I wondered if Drew was alive, whether or not she would come or pass seeing her half-sister tie the knot. Piper's father, Tristan McLean was there, smiling. A woman wearing a purple gown (presumably Aphrodite) was right next to him.

On the right side, Jupiter was there. Jason didn't have very many half-siblings, and his mother was dead. The only other family he had was Thalia, but she was a Hunter of Artemis. She was probably searching for her lady and her adoptive mother.

"I'm not late am I?"

We turned and saw Jason's sister, Thalia. She wore her jet black hair in a braid, but the silver tiara she normally wore was gone, replaced by a black headband. She wore a black shoulder strap knee-length dress and heels.

Jason smiled. "Hey Thalia. I thought you wouldn't make it."

"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't miss this for the world. I'm so happy for you."

Leo looked at her questionably. "Aren't you like forbidden from going to these since you're a hunter?"

She scoffed. "I may be forbidden from falling in love, but I am allowed to feel happy for those who found true love. There's nothing that says I can't be here, especially because Artemis is who knows where."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that she was chained to a rock. "Well..." Leo began.

"So how did you get here?" I quickly asked.

I then shot Leo a dirty look. "I flew."

"You took a plane?" Percy asked.

"No, I actually flew over here on wind currents. It took me nearly three days, but I did it."

Percy was baffled. "I thought you were scared of heights."

"Didn't Jason tell you? Sometime after the Second Giant War, I asked Jason to help me get rid of my irrational fear. It took a while, but I did it."

The son of the sea god smiled. "Really? Good for you!"

Thalia smiled and took her seat. I tried to smile, but I still felt all out of place, despite Sam's reassuring words. Soon, Gleeson Hedge, Mellie, their son Chuck, and numerous other guests had arrived. The wedding started as the string quartet played _Here Comes the Bride_. Piper, carrying a bouquet of real roses this time, slowly walked down the aisle in accordance with the music. The vow master held a book in his hands, opened it and waited for the music to end. I stood by Piper's side. Suddenly, I felt a bad feeling stir up...

"Dearly beloved, we are here to witness the union of this man and this woman in matrimony. Marriage is the promise..."

I started zoning out. Who was Diana? I recalled all those visions of Horatia, Sandya and Tiana. Tiana had the magic, Sandya was the hunter, and Horatia seemed really unlikely... I saw another vision. Why did this keep happening? The vision showed the hunters of Artemis fighting the hellhounds that got loose in Spain. Among those warriors were Zoe Nightshade, Sandya, Sipriotes and numerous others.

"This doesn't look good!" Sipriotes exclaimed.

"Keep going! If we fail, all of Spain could be destroyed!" Zoe ordered.

"Since when do you call the shots?" Sandya asked.

Zoe glared at her. "You didn't even want to come here!"

"Where's Artemis?!" Sipriotes exclaimed.

An unnamed hunter was knocked unconscious. Sipriotes was clawed out and bled to death. Sandya blackflipped and shot an arrow at the hellhound's eye. She then hid behind a rock. Then the next thing I know, I see Sandya getting eaten. But then that said hunter ran away, leaving Zoe to face ten hellhounds by herself. She quickly shot them down, one by one, and held in her arms. She sobbed.

"All of my fellow hunters have fallen. If only Phoebe was here."

She ran away, and then the scene switched to Diana. She sat around in her throne, with Hercules by her side.

The maiden smirked. "Everything's going according to plan. Eris is going to have such a field day."

Hercules sighed. "I'm worried about you, my lady. You're not a goddess. Aren't you scared that someone other than me and Atlas will find out?"

She crossed her legs. "Not at all."

"Aren't you scared of death? Of possibly dying?"

She sighed. "I have died twice actually. Over time, I've learned not to fear Death, but to evade him. What worries me more is failure."

Chryasaor entered the room. "Mistress, I have recruited Geryon to our cause."

"Excellent. While I'm at it, I better be sure Eris and the decoys are ready for the big day."

The vision ended. I quietly gasped. Luckily, no one seemed to notice.

"Do you, Jason Grace, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love, to care for, to cherish, and forsake all others, as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"And do you, Piper McLean, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To love, to care for, to cherish, and forsake all others, as long as you both shall live?"

"Yes."

"Then by the power invested in..."

Suddenly, thunder was heard. A cold evil laughter could be heard throughout the room.

"What's happening?!" Piper asked.

"Ah, daughter of Aphrodite, such a beautiful and happy day. Too bad you have some uninvited guests."

A woman in a purple dress with a black veil entered the room. She chuckled.

"How did you get in here? And who the Hades are you?!" Jason exclaimed.

The woman took off her veil. Many gasped, and one daughter of Aphrodite screamed.

"Eris..."

She smirked. "So, you actually recognize me? I'm surprised at that."

"How could this have happened? Piper's mom and Jason's dad would never allow her to get in."

"Oh, how do I say this? Their godly parents aren't even here!"

Aphrodite stood up, and snapped her fingers with both of her hands. Her disguise was shed, revealing Ella, Lou's missing sister. Jupiter was actually Alabaster C. Torrington, the demigod son of Hecate who was exiled. Gasps could be heard from every direction.

"And that's not all!" Ella exclaimed. "There's two more guests. One of which Annabeth will be very happy to see!"

She snapped her fingers. Calypso wasn't there, and in her place was an unnamed witch. In Hazel's place was... I gasped.

"Alyssa?!"

She turned to face me. "Oh hello, Annabeth. So glad to see you. At least you never insulted me."

"Is that why you left? Please, Alyssa, don't do this!"

"Sorry sister. But the time of shaming me is over!"

As Alyssa got out her sword, the unnamed witch suddenly threw lightning at Piper, which Jason barely managed to deflect. I backflipped, dodging all of Alyssa's attacks. Thalia got out her bow and arrows.

Frank and Leo glared at the unnamed witch. "Where are Calypso and Hazel?!"

"You're never find them!" the unnamed witch answered.

Percy saw me pitted against my half-sister. "Annabeth, what are you doing?! Run!"

"I'm not running."

I got out my dagger and my sword, which I had kept on a belt on the edge of the slip I wore under my dress. Jason saw me and nodded grimly. "She has a point. None of us have weapons!"

Thalia shot arrows at Alabaster, one of which struck him in the leg. Percy got out his sword and fought against Eris. Piper was cornered by Alabaster, and soon he tied her up.

"Help me!" Alabaster ran away with Jason's bride.

"Piper!"

He ran after her. Eris laughed crazily. She then struck a match, lit a candle, and threw it onto the ground.

Frank turned to Leo. "Leo! Help Jason pursue the madman who grabbed Piper!"

"No way! This fire is getting too hot to handle!" He started redirecting the flames created by Eris towards the lake to extinguish them.

Eris was laughing. The humans were all knocked out (save for Piper's father). He was horrified and sitting in a corner. The unnamed witch was torturing him.

"Leo should go after Alabaster!" Frank exclaimed.

"No, that's a bad idea!" Leo was working double-time. "This fire's getting out of control!"

I held back Alyssa's sword with my own. "Alyssa, why are you doing this?!"

She chuckled to herself. "Isn't it obvious?"

I saw a golden flash in Ella's eyes. She was being controlled by the evil maiden. "Ella, you mustn't do this!"

"You don't get it. The children of Hecate are being controlled by Diana."

"And you joined her off your own free will?"

"Of course! I hated being a cat!

I gasped. "Gale?"

Gale smirked. "So Hazel told you about me? Well, it's too bad that she and the rest of you will perish!"

I needed a plan and fast, but it was hard to think. Alyssa had turned to the dark side, and it seemed as if she joined her of her own free will... but... it just couldn't be. Fire was spreading throughout the area and our lives as well as the lives of innocent humans, were at stake. Time was fading...


	38. In the Midst of the Chaos

I quickly realized that Eris was trying to separate us. I jumped onto the altar and cupped my hands around my mouth. "Guys, don't you release what's going on?! Eris wants us to fight! She wants to see chaos! We can't give her what she wants!"

The men widened their eyes, realizing that I was right. Thalia continued shooting arrows at Eris, trying to weaken her, but she destroyed them all effortlessly. "Thalia, shoot arrows at Gale! Leo, fight against Eris! Frank, help Jason find Piper! Percy, hold off Ella!"

Percy shuttered. "And you?"

"I'm going to speak with my sister."

I jumped off the altar and walked towards Alyssa in the midst of the continuing chaos. "Please... Alyssa. Your siblings aren't against you." I grabbed her wrist. "I'm not against you."

"Albert's always been against me! Eric never liked me either!"

She dashed and tried slashing at me. I swiftly dodged her every move. Leo had not only handled the fire, but was using it against his enemies (mainly Eris).

"That's not true, Alyssa! Albert regrets what he had done! We miss you! We all do."

Alyssa blinked. "Annabeth..."

She screamed in pain. She held her hand to her forehead.

"Alyssa... It's me." She looked at me like she was going to cry. Golden energy was shot out of her body and she fell to the ground. "Alyssa!"

"Annabeth... Oh my gods. I can't believe that just happened."

"Alyssa..." I helped her up. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I... I fell under the control of an evil maiden..."

Percy and Leo had tied up Ella and Alabaster. The siblings were bound in rope. Gale had been murdered by Thalia after she got an arrow right through her neck.

"You broke free."

"Ow! Cursed miserable arrows!" Eris shrieked.

She was bleeding ichor all over.

I smirked. "Your servants have fallen, Eris. Give it up. Chaos never wins!"

"You so sure about that? Mount Olympus is unraveling. No one can stop it!"

Alyssa threw arrows at Eris's knee. "It's over."

She struck down the goddess as Hazel, Calypso, Piper and Jason returned. Eris had fainted. The battle was over.

"So what did we miss?" Piper asked.

We informed them of what happened.

"I'll take the goddess and the corrupted demigods and find a place to keep them captive."

"You sure you can handle it alone?"

"I've got this. Goodbye Annabeth. And happy wedding day, Piper and Jason."

Alyssa left, taking her prisoners with her. Jason looked at his bride. "So where were we?"

About an hour later, everything was back to normal. Gale's corpse had been buried at the Hollywood Forever cemetery by Hazel. The humans (not counting Piper's father, Tristan) had been wiped of their memories of Eris's attack. Tristan was told by Piper that she was a demigod, and surprisingly, he learned to accept it.

"Do you Piper, take his man to be your husband?" the officiant asked.

"Yes."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Piper lifted her veil and passionately kissed Jason. The audience was surprised, but they clapped and cheered anyway. Later on, during the reception, I was drinking a glass of water, eating a piece of wedding cake and sitting with my friends. I almost felt a bit out of place, but at least no one was interrogating me.

Percy smiled at me. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Had I been eight months along, dancing would have been impossible, but no one really even knew. I tried to shove those thoughts to the back of mind. It had been a long day. As I danced with Percy, my stress had disappeared. Even though the stereo had broke, I heard a beautiful symphony in my mind. Was it my imagination or was it being performed by the Muses? I did not know, but I didn't think about it too much as I let my feet guide my steps. Tonight was a great night. Numerous days had passed, and soon it was only one day before the interview.

I had learned from Hazel (who found a book that Gwen had in her possession and never returned it to the New Rome Public Library) that the excess amount of dreams and the visions in the waking world were actually caused by my pregnancy. That last symptom was said to be very rare though. Other strange symptoms not found in a human pregnancy included temporary decrease in power (very common, or increase in a few cases), meeting your child in your dreams before they're born (sometimes), hearing the direct thoughts of your child when awake (rare), being able to determine the gender via random occurrences or intuition (common), and even aura concealment (rare).

That night, I had a strange dream. I saw Percy at his post in West Side YMCA in New York City. He was sitting in his chair, sipping on a blue soda of sorts (Mountain Dew Voltage maybe?), and looking at his students from down below. Most of them were teenagers or in their 20's and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Everything seemed to be alright. Deep in the waters of the pool, a black cloaked figure swam in the depths. They extended their hand as a female student wearing a pink bikini swam under the water. The hand glowed gold and suddenly the girl was running out of air faster. Like lightning fast. Percy took a few seconds to realize what was happening and he dived in. He grabbed her but she couldn't even breathe, despite Percy creating an air bubble. He dragged her out and tried giving CPR, but it had failed.

"What happened?" a girl asked.

"Is she okay?" another woman chimed in.

Percy's boss walked in. "What happened?"

"She drowned sir." a boy answered.

He glared at Percy.

"I didn't mean to let her drown. I tried everything to save her. I dragged her out of the water, gave her CPR. Nothing worked!"

"How long was she underwater?"

"Only 30 seconds." the boy from earlier answered.

"It doesn't make sense. Even though she fainted quickly, I still have some time to try and revive her... I...I should have been able to save her."

"But you failed to, which clearly shows your incompetence at being a teacher and a lifeguard. Percy, you're fired!"

Some of his students gasped. Percy was in complete shock. "What?!"

"Leave now! You're banned from ever entering this YMCA again!"

"But... it wasn't... oh..."

Percy was in the locker room. He had removed his blue swim trunks and was in his boxers. He sighed. "How am I going to tell Annabeth this?" He then got on his jeans, his white undershirt, his navy blue jacket, white socks and blue sneakers, then grabbed his gym bag and sadly left the vicinity. He briefly stopped, turned around and looked back at the YMCA. He turned away and walked down the streets of New York City.

He was tempted to run away, to just crawl into a hole and hide there, crying. But what good would it do him? He shoved that thought aside and walked to the nearest beach. Luckily, it was deserted. The scene switched to him in his swim trunks and diving into the ocean. The figure from earlier was there, and then it vanished. The scene switched to Camp Half-Blood. Paolo Montes, a demigod from Brazil, and my half brother Malcolm were busy trying to repair Hera's cabin.

Paolo was complained rapidly in Portuguese. For some reason my dreams were nice enough to provide English translations.

"Eu senti como esse esta inútil." ( **I feel like this is pointless.** )

"Quit complaining, Paolo. The more you complain the longer this will take."

"Por que nos fazer esta?" ( **Why are we doing this?** )

"Because we have to repair all of the cabins."

"Mesmo um chalé de Hera ne tem pas des residentes?" ( **Even though Hera's cabin has no residents?** )

"Hera's cabin is honorary. And sometimes, although rarely, important events occur in or near the cabin."

"Les acontecimentos importante? Como o que?" ( **Important events? Like what?** )

"Well, for instance, towards the beginning of the Second Giant War, the Oracle was possessed by Hera after Rachael Elizabeth Dare found Piper in her cabin. They learned that Hera was in trouble, so Jason, Piper, and Leo left to save her and prevent the rise of Gaea. For a certain amount of time. It also kinda serves as a temple to pray to her."

"Não tem Hera desaparecé?" ( **Hasn't Hera disappeared?** )

"She did, along with Hestia after the Winter Solstice. This worries me..."

"Lembrae me, ter les chalés des Apollo, Ares e Demeter já estive reparé? ( **Remind me, have the cabins for Apollo, Ares and Demeter already been repaired?** )

"They have. The members of the Aphrodite cabin are helping to repair Hecate's cabin since Lou Ellen is still in a coma and Ella is still M.I.A. Look Paolo, I know your efforts may seem useless, but this task is not pointless. And besides, Chiron offered us his special stash of Smores' flavored ice cream leftover from the summer for all of the people who helped to rebuild the cabins. So try not to be so negative, alright?"

"O.k." ( **Okay.** )

Then I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock. I ate brunch (since it was about 11:30) and tried to mentally prepare myself for the interview. I wrote a list of every possible question that he could ask me, and at least one answer for each of them. Then at about 2:30, I had a light snack of crackers, although truth be told, I had not suffered from morning sickness once. I guess I was just lucky.

A knock was heard on my door. "Come in."

Hazel entered the door. "Do you have your ensemble for the interview ready?"

"The outfit is at my apartment in New York City."

"Do you need some time to get ready? Shower, brush your hair, teeth?"

"Done, done and done. I've already tried brushing out my hair, but I gave up and just put it into a bun. They'll never know."

"Alright. We'll leave at three o'clock."

Five minutes til three, we went down to see our friends. They smiled and boosted my morale. "Good luck, Annabeth." Jason said.

Piper cheered, "You got this, girl!"

"You know what to do!" Leo exclaimed.

"Just don't get your fingers caught in Chinese fingercuffs."

I giggled. Percy hugged me. "Good luck, be safe. Try not to get into trouble."

"Thanks guys. I'm feeling a lot better about this."

"Ready to go?" Hazel asked.

I took her hand. "Yes."

Then we were tumbling through the darkness.


	39. The True First Woman (It Wasn't Pandora)

Hazel transported us to my apartment. Within less than three minutes, I got into my ensemble wear; my black dress, matching flats and the pseudo diamond earrings. I tied my hair into a bun and drank a cup of ice water, trying to calm my nerves.

"Are you still nervous?" Hazel asked.

I hesitated. "I guess... a little."

"You're going to do great. If you want, I'll walk with you to your interview."

"That would be nice."

I tried to calm my nerves further by doing deep breathing exercises. Now I wasn't so much worried about the interviewing process, but instead some spontaneous disaster occurring during the interview. I still had Khione's medallion, but if something bad happened and/or secrets were revealed, I'd be deemed as crazy or hostile, and I wouldn't be able to make Mr. Molotov forget it all. I tried to convince myself that wouldn't happen. Eventually, we got to Molotov Architecture and Design. The skyscraper was about 15 stories high, and the sunlight reflecting off the building nearly blinded us.

"I'll be right outside on this bench. Good luck Annabeth."

"Thank you."

I went inside with a jittery feeling in my stomach. I checked my watch. 3:45pm. I had plenty of time, so I took the stairs. Mr. Molotov's office was on the 3rd floor, so it was not much of a hike. I looked around and found the name James Molotov on the first door. I knocked three times, then slowly entered. He was not here. Where was he? I sat down and looked at the office. The walls were painted blue, and on his desk he had a name tag, a computer, a wired telephone, a coffee mug that read _World's Greatest Dad_ , and a potted plant that I couldn't identify. To pass the time, I decided to stare off into space. I then saw another vision.

A young woman, who appeared to be in her 20's stood at the beachside, towards the Mediterranean Sea. She had a blue aura around her. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. An oceanaid approached her.

"Daphne, what troubles you?"

"Oh Hango, I feel that even with Themsis in power, there is no justice in the world."

"What makes you say that?"

"Lord Kronos is cruel. He is a despicable man and I hate him!"

Hagno looked around. "Don't you think that he would hear you?"

"No, and even then, I don't care. Being an oceanid is so boring and depressing."

"But what are you going to do?"

"I'm giving up my powers."

Hagno gasped. "Daphne, are you really going to do that? You could die."

"Dying would be better than being forgotten and miserable."

Hagno looked at her sadly. "No matter what I say, I can't stop you, can I?"

Daphne sighed. "I'm afraid not. Tell mother and father that I love them."

She teleported away to an area in Ancient Greece. Her whole body glowed with blue energy, then she shot it upward into the sky. Her blue aura faded. Her powers were gone.

A creek of the door brought me back to reality.

"Oh. Annabeth Chase. I didn't expect you to arrive here so early."

"I thought you would be here waiting for me." I rubbed my arm awkwardly. "Did I do the wrong thing?"

"I suppose not." He sat down in a chair behind his desk. "Are you ready, Ms. Chase?"

"I am."

"Excellent. Let's begin. In terms of architecture, what is your greatest accomplishment?"

"Building a full size scale of Olympus, home of the Greek Gods."

"You built a replica of Olympus? For what purpose?"

"I was building it for a play my friends were a part of. It took weeks, but it was worth every second. I have the designs for them right here."

I showed him my sketches and blueprints of how I rebuilt the home of the gods. If he knew I was doing it for the Greek gods, he would have hired me in a heartbeat.

"You said on your application that you've gotten a master's degree despite being only 22. How is this so?"

"Well, I had done so well the first semester of my junior year at Goode High School, that they let me graduate early. So I quickly followed with college, having finished my schooling in early November of the previous year, allowing me to get my master's degree at 22 instead of 23."

"Alright. Describe for me a failure that set you back. How did you react to it?"

"I remember once making a cabin. Well, four mini cabins actually, but that didn't really work work for what Mr. Brunner had in mind. I had felt disappointed, but I didn't give up. So I managed to create a cabin on wheels which has had at least two residents."

He smiled then retained his neutral look. "Tell me about the relationships you've had with the people you've worked with. Describe the best and the worst of them."

"Well, I've worked with many people. Not necessarily those interested in architecture, but some of them were my friends, and we all got along very well. United, we were unstoppable. I didn't always get along with some of my acquaintances, one girl was rather loud and violent, but she's still very brave and I'm happy to have her as an ally."

"Ok then. What prompted you to apply for this job?"

"I've always been interested in building, designing and repairing. I always thought that I could build something great that will long for a long time, maybe even a thousand years."

"Dream big, Ms. Chase. What's the biggest decision you've made in the past year? Why did you make this choice?"

"I can think of a few that happened years ago. I guess the most recent one was to try and finish getting my master's degree before the end of last December. I made this choice because I wanted to get my degree as soon as possible, since my boyfriend was shifting from job to job. In fact, now I'm the only breadwinner. As of what happened a few months ago..."

"What happened? Oh wait, never mind. It's not my business." He cleared his throat. "What's surprised you the most about the interviewing process so far?"

I smiled. "Truth be told, I was not surprised at all. I prepared myself for the interview and mentally prepared answers to every question. I try to be prepared, although that isn't always possible."

"And finally, do you have any questions for me?"

"Well, yes. If I were to be expecting a child, what exactly would happen? Would you move me to another field of work? If so, would I be paid the same? How many weeks of maternity leave would I get? Would it paid or unpaid?

"Okay, slow down. I know you have a lot of concerns. First of all, you would be moved to designing buildings as opposed to also building them. Your pay rate would be the same, and our company gives three months of paid maternity leave, sometimes even more if the child has birth defects or severe disabilities."

"Thank you. That puts my mind at ease."

"Many female employees are scared to ask these questions. Often times, they claim that they didn't know about their pregnancy until four months or later. I don't know if this a common ruse because of paranoia, if their obliviousness was genuine or a mixture of the two..." He then looked at me curiously. "You mind if I ask you a few personal questions before we conclude the interview?"

I felt a bit nervous, but I answered, "I guess not. Ask away!"

"What was the first day of your last menstrual period?"

I silently gulped. "I honestly do not know. I never keep track."

"Are you sexually active?"

I was not prepared to answer that. "I'd rather not say. I don't want to be shamed since I'm unmarried."

"Do you know if you are with child?"

I knew lying during an interview was a really bad idea. At the same time however, if I lied here, there was no way he could find out. "No, I am not."

"Well, alright then. You're hired! Your first shift begins next Monday, the 9th, at 9 o'clock and ends at 6. You work that shift Monday through Friday and you get the weekends off."

I smiled sheepishly. "Thank you, Mr. Molotov. I look forward to my time here. Have a good day."

"See you Monday."

I left the office and went to tell Hazel the good news. However, I did not find her outside the bench.

"Hazel?"

I heard the sounds of metal clashing. I ran in the direction of the sound, then suddenly stopped and gasped in horror. Hazel was lying on the ground, heavily bleeding. A woman with black hair wearing sunglasses smiled and laughed wickedly. She wore black pants and a black tank top, and on her blood red belt were numerous weapons including a sword, dagger, bow and arrow set, and a shotgun, with black combat boots and a blood red headband to complete the look.

"Hazel!" I ran to her side. "What did you do to her?!"

"Oh, I only made her suffer. This is war after all!" the woman answered.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"You don't recognize me?" She smirked. "Oh, I guess you have yet to encounter me. The name's Enyo, goddess of war, twin sister of Ares. Not to be mistaken for Bellona of course."

I gulped loudly. I knew I was in trouble. At this point I had limited choices, and I was running out of time. I was internally panicking. I thought that disaster could occur, but never had I foreseen anything like this!


	40. Hazel Barely Escapes Ares's Crazy Sister

At this point, I had two choices; to try and fight the evil goddess, or to run.

"So Annabeth, aren't you going to fight me? Don't you want revenge?"

I now understood why Percy hated Ares so much. Ares was (in Percy's opinion) a rude, cruel, hot-headed guy who loved violence and bloodshed. His sister was worse and way more sinister. Every primal instinct screamed, _Do it! Fight her!_ Concurrently, though, I knew Hazel was injured, and there was no way I could fight her. I needed a plan, and fast.

"Look, Ares is fighting Diana!" I exclaimed.

She turned around, looking for the fight that wasn't occurring. I grabbed Hazel by her wrist and ran. "Hey! Get back here!"

Ok, it wasn't my best plan but I had to do something. Unfortunately, I was running out of steam way too quickly. I had to get Hazel away from Enyo. I found a skateboard, some rope, tied the rope around Hazel's waist, then started skating.

Hazel weakly groaned. "Why aren't you fighting her?"

"I'm not going to let you die. I can't let her kill you. It's my fault this happened, but I'm going to fix it."

"Annabeth..."

Suddenly, Enyo was rollerblading down the street. She was gaining on us! I started fumbling for the nectar vial.

"Here, drink this nectar. Shadow travel us back to Camp Jupiter."

Part of her hand phased out for a moment, then stabilized. "I can't... I've already used a lot of strength. We'll never make it!"

"I know you're fading, but you've got to hold out a bit longer."

I didn't want to do this, but I forced the contents of vial down her throat.

"Mmm... Tastes like jambalya..."

She then threw diamonds at Enyo's face, shadow traveled us to Camp Jupiter and then promptly collapsed. We were at the mess hall, where the others were in a meeting.

"Annabeth, are you okay? You look like you narrowly escaped Death himself!" Percy commented.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

Leo was concerned. "Did the interview go alright?"

I explained how Hazel was nearly killed by Enyo. After she woke up in the infirmary, I confided to the gang about what happened during the interview.

"You did what?!"

"Not so loud, Frank." Jason gritted his teeth. "Some legionnaires are sleeping."

"I know, it was not the wisest idea. Arguably one of the most stupid decisions I ever made. But I feared that he wouldn't hire me if he knew I was with child." I sighed. "Why can't I be oblivious to the truth? That would make things so much easier..."

"But wouldn't you have found out that you were pregnant simply by noticing the signs?" Hazel asked.

"Around that time, I wasn't suspicious at all."

Leo blinked twice. "Wait, if you weren't suspicious that you're pregnant, then who was?"

"Percy. All because I confided to him about my menstrual woes."

Ok, confession time. I assume you're all familiar with a woman's monthly cycle, right? Except that in my case, my monthly cycle, wasn't really monthly. When I had menarche (my first period), I was twelve years old, and it was shortly after the Quest for the Master Bolt. For about a year or so, my cycles were regular and I had kept track of them by writing it down on a piece of paper I had folded in my pocket. However, after the Quest for Artemis (in which I feared for my life), I realized my cycle was late. Like eight weeks late. Then I started losing the piece of paper that had my cycles on it. The stress of the Second Titan War, being a demigod, and life in general was wrecking havoc on my cycle. It came late, then early. And then, after the Battle for the Labyrinth, I started seeing even stranger (and arguably worse) things occur. Over the course of my life, I've suffered from most, if not every menstrual disorder under the sun, and suffered from secondary amenorra (absence of periods for three or more months) four different times; once after the Quest for Artemis, again after the explosion of the _Princess Andromeda_ , during the first three months of Percy's eight month long leave, and once more in the weeks leading up to, during and after our time Tartarus.

Basically, my menstrual cycle is wacko, and after the Battle of Manhattan, I no longer bothered to keep track. I just rolled with the punches, taking whatever came and kept on going. I learned to be prepared whenever Auntie Flo decided to come visit. Never had I suspected that I would be pregnant. Of course, I had no idea how wrong I was. It was about three weeks and five days after the affair in the lake. Me and Percy were on the beach. I was relaxing in the shade and thinking about how Auntie Flo had yet to show up. Then Percy came up to me. He noticed my sad expression.

"Annabeth, what's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing." I shrugged it off.

He put his hand on my shoulder. "Come on. You can tell me."

"My period hasn't arrived yet."

I turned away, so I didn't see his worried expression at first. He slowly spoke, "Annabeth... You're... you're not pregnant, are you?"

I laughed. "Come on, Percy. Flo is always late. I'm sure she'll come in a few days or weeks."

"May I remind you that we just had unprotected sex that no other mortal being even knows about?"

"Percy, chill. Everything will be fine."

"How can you be so sure?"

I massaged his shoulders. "Just trust me."

"What if I'm right?" He paused. "And what if Athena knew?"

"I thought she learned to tolerate our relationship."

"I thought she never did." He sighed. "If you're not gonna do it to reassure yourself, then, could you reassure me?"

"Sure, Seaweed Brain."

However, I had forgotten. The reason? I was filling out an application to get a job at Molotov Architecture and Design. I had forgotten to take the test while trying to become an architect, civil engineer and construction worker. I applied for all three positions. Since it had been about two years since we last came to Camp Half-Blood, we decided to visit. We were right outside Poseidon's cabin.

"You don't want to take the test, do you?" Percy asked suspiciously.

I nodded. "No, because it'll probably turn out negative."

Oh gods. Not only was I in severe denial, I was ignorant and presumptive. So Percy had bought it for me.

"You really want me to take this test?"

"Yes... Annabeth... I know you may think I'm crazy, and perhaps I am, but please, just do it. If not to reassure you, to reassure me. And if I'm wrong, you can jeudo flip me."

"Alright, I'll take it."

I decided to go to the girl's room during lunch, when it would be deserted. I hoped nobody would notice my brief absence. I did the test and had to wait three minutes. I counted to 180 and then turned the test right-side up.

"Well, here's the moment of truth." I said to myself.

I looked at the test. It was positive. I loudly gasped. I was tempted to scream aloud. Instead I mentally screamed in my mind. _Oh gods! Mom's going to kill Percy for this! Will she?! I can't believe this!_

"Annabeth, are you okay in there?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

 _Well, Percy will know one way or another._ I thought to myself. I exited the bathroom and told him the results. Then, well, you know the rest.

"Wow. Just wow." Piper said.

Jason looked at me curiously. "So you got the job?"

"I did. Starting next Monday, I work from nine to six five days a week."

"So how are we going to make this battle with the evil maiden work with Annabeth's new job?" Frank asked.

"I'll stay in New York." I answered.

Percy was surprised. "Really? I thought you'd want to stay and continue the war against Diana."

"This job is going to be very taxing on my body, and engaging in battle immediately afterwards wouldn't be very good for me. Also, this saves Hazel some strength by having her rest instead of going back and forth from coast to coast five times a week."

Percy was concerned. "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own for a week?"

"I may be pregnant, but I'm not helpless. I got pepper spray, two weapons, and Khione's medallion."

Hazel stood up. "You sure that's not your pride speaking?"

I smiled. "Pretty sure."

And so it was done. I was the only breadwinner, living pretty much alone. I tried to pretend that everything was normal, but after Hazel took me to my apartment, I stood alone on the back deck and I realized that nothing was normal. I was the daughter of Athena, in which my mother had lost her mind, I was pregnant with Percy's child (who would be a legacy of two gods) and fighting in a war against an evil maiden whom we know so little about. No one could know about any of this. I was truly alone. I looked at the moon, which was slowly waxing and illuminating the sky.

"Oh Artemis, I know you can't hear me, but I wish I didn't feel so alone."

The moon briefly glowed brighter, but I believed that my prayer went unheard.


	41. I Survive My First Day on the Job

I walked into work, feeling nervous. I breathed in and out. Without those breathing exercises I learned, I would have succumbed to stress weeks ago. I entered the building and went to the lobby. I wore my uniform, which meant I was going to building. I took a seat next to Bruce Benevenuti, the father of Chiara. Although according to Chiara, he never knew that his daughter was a demigod.

"Alright, quiet down everyone! Before we begin the day, let us welcome our newest recruit, Ms. Annabeth Chase."

"Congratulations, girl!" I heard someone say.

I felt a little uncomfortable at first, but I rolled along with it as Mr. Molotov assigned us to our respective tasks. "Mrs. Nicoll, Mr. Torrington, Mr. Benevenuti, Mr. Baudin, Mr. Blackstone, and Ms. Chase, you will be rebuilding a skyscraper. Ms. Yang and Mr. Schuster, you will finish the blueprint for your house design, then bring it to me. Now get to it!"

Me and my team left for our destination; an old skyscraper that had been partially destroyed.

"I'm surprised this skyscraper hadn't been fixed already." Mrs. Nicoll commented.

"This is the last one." Mr. Torrington answered.

"I wonder what even caused this." Mr. Benevenuti asked.

I knew what had happened; the damage done was the result of a monster attack that occurred about a year ago. Harley, a son of Hephestus, was reckless and challenged Queen Sess, the Scythian Dracanae ruler, to a duel. He was doing this to prove that he didn't need Leo's fire powers to be strong after one of his half-siblings teased him. He was nearly killed in this one hour battle, and won only because he sensed a bomb nearby that a terrorist tried to implant in the building. After he set it in place, Harley activated it with his powers. The terrorist and Queen Sess were killed in the explosion, and Harley fell from hundreds of feet in the air. He survived the battle because his prayer was heard by Zeus, and he landed on a huge pile of mattresses. That day, he learned two things; one, never mess with bombs to defeat the enemy, and two, don't do stupid actions just to prove yourself.

"Whatever it was, it caused a lot of damage. But that's pretty obvious." I said.

"We better get started. Mr. Molotov left me in charge of the group today, so first things first, we have to replace the glass." Mrs. Nicoll stated. "Annabeth, Trevor, remove the glass from the top of the skyscraper."

Me and Mr. Torrington went up to the 20th floor of the building. Using the gloves in my pocket, I removed the fractured glass from the window while Trevor swept it up. "Are you sure that's the best way to remove the glass?"

"I'm wearing gloves, and wouldn't it be bad if I just punched out the glass?"

He blinked twice. "You're right. I'm just not thinking straight. I'm very troubled right now."

I finished grabbing the last of the glass. "How come?"

He sighed sadly. "I've received some bad news that my son has caused trouble and now he's in jail."

I put the pieces of glass into a trash can. "Oh my... I know it's none of my business, but what happened?"

"According to the messenger, he was supposed to be... in his jail for life, but he escaped and has caused trouble again..."

"It's alright. You don't have to say anything. We better get back down there."

We went to the nearest elevator. I pressed the button and we went down to the ground. I knew who he was talking about; Alabaster C. Torrington, who had unwillingly joined a faction of evil gods, rogue deities, monsters, troubled demigods and brainwashed humans. According to a letter sent to Camp Jupiter two days ago, Alyssa had created a prison cell for Eris, Ella and Alabaster. She sent an Iris-message to her siblings letting them know what happened. She then hired four guards to watch the prisoners, each one taking six-hour shifts. She then decided to take Alabaster back to the mansion where he was supposed to be exiled. I had not to hear on whether or not she had been successful in her efforts to re-banish him.

Who was the messenger? Was it Hecate? Did he know that his son was a demigod? I didn't know, but I decided it would be better not to ask. Eventually, the elevator stopped and we returned to where our co-workers were waiting for us.

"We've already started on the next step; rebuilding the concrete structure. Mr. Molotov tells us that there are several complaints of the structure and some of those commenters fear it will collapse."

Using a mixture of cement and steel, we restructured the building to prevent its collapse. Being sure to drink water as needed, I continued following orders and doing my job. I learned from Bruce (Mr. Benevenuti) that a random person is chosen to be in the charge of the building group each day. No one person could be chosen twice in the same week. I wondered if I was up for the task of leadership. Eventually the day ended.

"So remind me, when do we get paid?" I asked, but no one seemed to have heard.

"Every Friday at the end of the work week." a voice answered. It was Ms. Yang. "You're new here aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am. I guess I forgot to ask that in my interview, or maybe I missed it..." I mumbled.

"It's alright. It takes a few days to settle in and get into a routine." She smiled at me. "It'll be alright."

"Thanks for the reassurance."

I went back to the apartment and ate dinner. Day One; not too bad. Nobody's suspicious of anything. I thought more people would be questioning why I had two reusable water bottles with me as opposed to one, but everyone believed the ruse I told them; I had two in case I lose one. I almost never lost items. Then I decided to send an Iris-message to Alyssa.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, accept this offering. Show me Alyssa."

The rainbow showed Alyssa around Alabaster's house. The house had been completely destroyed. Alabaster was tied up and completely unconscious. Eventually Alyssa looked towards my way. "Oh Annabeth. Hello."

"You look like you have a difficult situation to deal with."

"It seems that Alabaster's house has been destroyed. I know you're probably busy fighting the evil maiden, but if only you had teleportation powers..."

"I'm actually just got off of work."

She blinked thrice. "You got a job?"

"Yeah, I'm an architect, among other things, at Molotov Architecture and Design."

"Isn't that job straining on your body?"

"Yeah, it is. That's why I'm staying here during the work week. Where are you?"

"Keeseville, New York."

I looked at curiously. "Isn't that like five hours away?"

"It is. You don't have to come. Get some rest."

I wanted to argue, but she was right. I was in no condition to drive for five hours and back to repair a destroyed home.

"What are you going to do now?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure. I have my guards watching over the other prisoners, so they can't get away. If only I knew what to do..."

"You could try and put him in a mortal prison. I don't know if it would work, but it can't hurt to try."

"I should get some rest. Good night

"Good night, and good luck."

She waved her hand through the rainbow, ending the conversation. I went to bed. As usual, my dreams were strange. I saw a young woman with long black hair on an island. I recognized her as Sandya, the huntress. Circe was with her.

"This spell can only be used once, so choose your question wisely." Circe said to her.

Sandya added a handful of herbs to a boiling cauldron.

"Spirits of the Universe, I want to know; who is my father?" she asked.

Steam rose from the cauldron, she looked into the water, and then the scene switched. Tiana was shown in Manhattan alongside other demigod members of the Titan Army.

"Are you sure you won't fall asleep from this spell that Morpheus is about to cast?" Alabaster asked her.

Silena glared at him. "Don't be a dummy, Alabaster. She's a daughter of Hecate."

"Adopted. She just a human who knows sorcery." he said. "She is no child of Hecate. I know, for she is my mother."

Her face turned red from anger. "That is not true. I'm not a mere mortal."

"Then why are you so afraid to talk about your past and your parentage?"

She smirked. "Because if you knew the truth, you'd kneel to me in fear."

Ethan looked towards the sky. "It's almost time. Are you guys ready?"

"Yes." the other three answered in unison.

Luke/Kronos, Hecate, and Morpheus appeared before them. The quartet of half-bloods bowed before them.

"It is time." Kronos stated.

Hecate threw forth a beam of blue energy into the air, which began to expand outward. Kronos snapped his fingers and golden energy was released. Morpheus projected forth purple energy. Their powers combined caused all of Manhattan's human population (with few exceptions such as Sally Jackson) to fall asleep, and time around the city was slowed down to prevent humans from entering or leaving.

"See? I told you I could handle it." Tiana retorted. "Just you wait, Alabaster, and you'll be bowing down to me."

The other two demigods gasped. "You're so cruel. I like that." Kronos stated.

"Thank you, my lord." Tiana smiled.

Tiana was fighting in the Battle of Manhattan. She had teleported to Mount Olympus. How did she even have that power though? She arrived only to find Luke stabbing himself with my dagger. Tiana gasped in horror and ran with a blade. Before she could stab Percy, she was blasted off the clouds by a lightning bolt from Jupiter before he transformed back into Zeus. Tiana fell from Mount Olympus and her spirit was later seen in the Underworld. She and several others were at the Doors of Death.

"At least the gates aren't in Tartarus this time," she heard someone say.

"Next!" a voice called.

Tiana and numerous others entered the elevator.

 _Note to self,_ she thought. _Don't get killed again._

The scene then switched to Diana. She stood with Hercules.

"We're almost there. Just a few more chaos weaving battles, and this world will be mine!" Diana exclaimed.

"What if they find out the truth?" Atlas asked.

She smirked. "They won't."


	42. We Get Some Backup Warriors

A whole work week had passed. I had gotten my check for the week; $1010.00. I found it surprising for a starting architect. I would call Hazel once I was ready to return back to Camp Jupiter, but first I had to stop by the bank and deposit the check. The line was not too crowded so I only had to wait for a few minutes. I deposited the check and left the building. I went to the nearest back alley, dialed Hazel and waited for her to answer.

"Hey, I may not be able to answer, but leave your name, number and a message and I'll get back to you when I can." Hazel's preset voicemail greeting said.

I hung up. I wondered if I should call her again or if I should wait for her to call back. Then I got another vision. I saw Horatia's spirit, sleeping at the bottom of the sea. She was dragged along by some unseen force (or was it ocean currents?). Her spirit fell into the Marina Trench. A huge merman with bullhorns found her spirit and she fell into his hand. He put a blue light around her and she slowly opened her eyes.

"Welcome, young girl." the merman said.

"Who... who are you?" she asked.

"You need not be frightened, little lady. I won't hurt you."

Horatia looked at the environment around her, and then back at herself. "Why do I see myself at the bottom of the ocean?"

"That's because your spirit is here."

She looked like she wanted to cry. "I'm... I'm dead?"

"Unfortunately... Do you remember anything?"

"I... I remember..." She recalled her mother's home being set ablaze and running from wolves. "I remember everything. My mother's house was on fire, and then I ran away from wolves. I jumped into the ocean, seeing a vision of a strange man being beaten and cut into pieces by his three sons. Then, it seems, I had drowned. Who are you?"

"I'm Oceanus, titan of the ocean, and former ruler of the seven seas before Poseidon took over causing me to step down from power."

"Poseidon... That name sounds familiar..." she muttered to herself. "What am I doing here at the bottom of the ocean?"

"When you died, your spirit fell asleep, and you never found your way to the Underworld, ruled by Hades."

She looked at him curiously. "Oceanus, do you know... why my home was set on fire or even who sent these wolves after me?"

"I know the answers, but... be warned... you may not like hearing them."

She got down on her knees. "Please tell me."

"Two Titans, named Hyperion and Epimetheus, somehow knew you were incredibly powerful and had great potential. How they knew this I do not know. They didn't know of your existence until the near end of the Titan War. Towards the end of the war, Hyperion used his powers of fire and light to destroy your house, hoping to kill you in the process. When Epimetheus realized Hyperion missed his target, he summoned a pack of wolves to eat you alive."

"But how could I have power? I'm just a normal human."

"It doesn't make sense, especially because you have a faint gold aura around yourself. Then again, my daughter, who is your decreased mother Daphne, was an Oceanid who gave up her powers."

Horatia looked at him in amazement. "You're my grandfather?"

"I am, and Tethys is your grandmother."

"My mother always told me my grandparents were dead."

"I'm afraid that was a ruse." Horatia looked sad. "Do you have any special abilities or see things that others don't?"

"No." she answered. "Well, I take that back. I sometimes see visions."

"Visions?" He looked at her curiously. "Of the past, present or future?"

"All three." Oceanus gasped. "What's wrong?"

"I'm trying to figure out who your father is. How old are you?"

"I'm 11 years old."

"Your father might be Koios as he is the Titan of foresight, but that doesn't explain the visions of the past and present... Maybe Prometheus?" He sighed. "I really don't know."

She hung her head. "What does it matter anyway? I'm dead and my father never even knew of my existence."

"I think there might be a way to restore you back to life."

Her eyebrows widened. "Really? How?"

"It's been several centuries since the end of the Titan War, and your demise. None of the Olympian gods, minor or major, know of your existence. Find the Doors of Death in the Underworld. Once you go through them, you'll be restored to life and will have to take on a new alias to prevent people from finding out who you are. I shall have your aunt Eidyia guide you. Be warned, the journey may be dangerous and scary, but Eidyia won't let anything horrible happen to you. I promise."

"Thank you. I hope that I will find out the truth."

Eidyia appeared and teleported them away. Then the scene switched to Diana. She stood up from her throne and smiled. "Perfect. Not only do we have more allies, Atlas doesn't feel so lonely."

I saw all of her allies. Despite the loss of Phobos, Demios, Janus, Keto, Phorcys, and Eris, her army was bigger and stronger than ever. Clytius, Geryon and Chrysaor were all smirking in delight. Athena polished a spear while standing next to Queen Sess. Pasiphae and Hecuba were speaking about sorceresses they could recruit. Atlas was sitting on a sofa next to Koios. In a blue recliner chair, Prometheus smiled and drank wine. In the left corner, a goddess in a golden dress and empty black void eyes. Her name was Melinoe. Pheme wore a white dress and had long red curly hair that fell to her waistline. Her blue eyes briefly flashed gold, a sign that she was under control of the evil maiden. That was a lot of allies. And that wasn't even everyone.

"This meeting will now come to order." Hercules said.

"Why did I agree to be commanded by a young human lady?" Melinoe asked.

"She is no mere mortal. She is a rogue goddess, just like you are." Hercules stated.

She appeared skeptical. "You should be thankful, Melinoe. You will get what you want." Diana turned to the immortal sorceress. "Pasiphae, have you recruited Circe?"

"I tried to, but she refused. She was helping a young lady make some kind of potion."

Her eyes widened. "A potion? For what purpose?"

"I don't know. But it called for lavender petals, wild strawberries and a drop of magic."

Diana briefly thought to herself, then turned back to Pasiphae. "Describe the young lady."

"She had long black hair and green eyes. She wore a dress of two colors; one side being white, and the other being black. She also wore a black and white jeweled necklace."

Using her magic, she created an image of the culprit. "Gwendolyn! Curse that necromancer! Had it not been for her, Nathan would have taken over and launched a war on Camp Half-Blood, further dividing the Olympians."

"I'm surprised you haven't attempted to kill her." Atlas said.

"Let's see. If I go after Gwen, I could take the potion from her, prevent Reyna's resurrection, and once Percy and Frank are killed, I'll release Nathan from his prison. Yes, this will work! I have a plan to destroy them, and the rest of the seven. And a certain girl holds the key to it all."

A group of three lieutenants looked at her. "Are you still he's alive?" Cleander asked.

"If not, he could be resurrected like we were." Vortigern answered.

Diana glared at them. "What are you men talking about?"

"Antaeus, a giant that Percy defeated long ago." Alaric answered.

"The name sounds familiar." Diana commented.

"He's the son of Poseidon and Gaea." Marcus answered.

I gasped. Those men were all part of the Triumvirate Holdings! They had all been resurrected and willingly joined the evil maiden! Two other men, Cade and Mikey were alongside the four resurrected lieutenants. They were also part of the Triumvirate.

"I can't believe she actually hired these thugs." Enyo stated.

"Is that an insult?" Zethes asked.

"Calm down, Enyo. We may have willing human servants among us, but that doesn't make them any less qualified for the job of mercenary. I'll take what I can get." Diana said. "Pretty soon, the world will crumble at my feet and I'll be the one ruling the cosmos!"

She laughed like a wicked witch and the vision ended. Hazel appeared. "Sorry I'm late."

The demigoddess looked tired, but I shrugged it aside. "It's alright. Just take me home."

We were transported back to Camp Half-Blood. We found Grover, Nico and Thalia with the other heroes.

"Nico! You're back!" Hazel exclaimed.

She threw her arms around him. He was surprised but didn't protest.

"Why didn't you tell me about Artemis's abduction earlier?" Thalia asked, glaring at me.

"I wanted to, but I didn't want to dampen your spirit on your brother's special day." I answered.

"How was your first week on the job?" Nico asked me.

"It was alright. Wait, how do you...?"

"We informed them of the situation." Frank stated.

"What are they doing here?" Hazel asked.

"We asked for extra assistance in our war against the evil maiden. Prior to calling on Nico, Thalia and Grover, the six of us have searched for the evil maiden's lair. We've searched Mount Saint Helens, the San Andreas fault, and two different abandoned mansions over the last five days, but we had no luck. So we called for help. The trio agreed to aid us."

"This is good news." I said.

Percy noticed my nervous expression. "Annabeth, what's wrong?"

I was reluctant to answer. "The evil maiden's army is getting stronger. I fear we can't stop her."


	43. Time Tells Me the Truth

Another work week had passed. It was January 20th. Gwen had only one day left to save Reyna. My visions didn't show Gwen saving her. Why hadn't she been able to cure her? I heard news that the president and vice-president had been killed at 12:30 this afternoon. What was happening? I tried to shove that thought aside. I deposited my check at the bank and waited for Hazel. I saw yet another vision. Horatia had been restored to life, but she was much older now. She appeared to be about 19-22 years old. The scene switched. Sandya was kneeling before Artemis. Zoe, Phoebe and many other hunters were present. One them had something that said, 3000. It had to have been referring to 3000 B.C.

"I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood and join the Hunt."

Artemis shot a silver light at Sandya. Her gold aura faded and was surrounded by silver. It showed Sandya after performing the spell. Circe was nowhere to be found.

"I can't believe it. That man who was murdered was my father..." Sandya clinched her fist. "If that's the case, then I'll be the one to conquer the world. Make the Gods pay for that they've done to him. I'll succeed where he failed."

The vision then ended. "What is taking her so long?" I asked the empty air.

"You can't count on your friends to be here for you, can you Annabeth?" a voice asked.

I looked towards the speaker briefly. "No, I can't." I looked away and then did a double take. I screamed. Clytius had found me. And he had some friends; Enyo, Eris, Ella, Alabaster and a mind-controlled Pheme. "Oh crap..."

"You've got nowhere to run, so give it up!" Eris stated.

I needed backup. If I tried to face them myself, I'd wind up dead! I backed away and reached for my ice medallion. I thought to myself, _Goddess of snow, hear..._ A fire arrow had been shot at me as the ice cracked. Khione didn't show up immediately, and I feared my prayer went unheard.

"It's over, Annabeth!" Enyo stated.

She threw several arrows at me, and I felt myself succumbing to terror. I feared the worst. I closed my eyes, expecting this to be the end.

"Leave her alone, you evil rapscallions!" a voice commanded.

I opened my eyes. Khione had appeared. She had protected me with a wall of ice, which had arrows sticking out of it. She turned the ice wall around and fired the arrows at Enyo, knocking her out.

"Khione! Thank the gods, I'm so glad to see you!" I exclaimed.

"You traitor! You joined Gaea in the Second Giant War! You should be on our side!" Clytius exclaimed.

Khione glared at her former ally. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice!"

"No one worships you. No one cares about you, just like they don't care about me." Eris stated.

She looked down sadly. Pheme spoke, "You're living the mortal realm because you can't live in the Underworld, the ocean, or on Olympus. You're an outcast, a misfit, and so very lonely."

"You should join us." Ella mentioned.

Alabaster nodded in agreement. "Your pain and suffering will end."

"Don't listen to her!" I cried out.

Khione glared at them all, especially Clytius. "It doesn't matter that I'm an outcast! Being lonely for all eternity would be better than an eternity of pledging myself to evil deities. I learned my lesson, and I won't succumb to the darkness!"

"Ella and Alabaster are under the maiden's control. Don't kill them."

"I'm aware, but thanks."

I fought against Eris while she froze the two mind-controlled demigods. Eris battled me with her sword. She came close to striking me in the chest, but I dodged her every move. Not bad for a demigod who's almost nine weeks into her pregnancy. I struck Eris right at the neck, causing her to gasp. Ichor dripped from her neck onto her dress. While she was stunned, I kicked her down. I tied her and Enyo up, and put them into a cardboard box. Pheme had been chained to the wall with ice chains and then thrown into a dumpster. Then I noticed Khione being knocked down. I stabbed Clytius with both of my weapons simultaneously. He writhed in pain. He got out his Stygian iron sword, but Khione used a cold spell to make it so cold that he dropped it. She froze his legs, slowing him down.

"Now Annabeth, finish him!" Khione commanded.

She formed a set of ice stairs. I dashed up, and slashed him repetitively before hitting the ground. Clytius groaned in agony and fell over. He was vanquished.

"Nicely done, daughter of wisdom."

I zoned out for a moment before replying, "Oh, um, thanks."

She looked at me with concern as the ice stairs broke. "What's wrong?"

"That comment, daughter of wisdom, is only reminding me what happened to my mother."

"It's sad, isn't it?" a voice asked. "Your mother gone insane."

"Diana... Where are you hiding?!"

Suddenly, Khione was frozen in time. I found myself surrounded by golden energy, swarming around me. I was beginning to panic, and soon I found myself spinning. I screamed. Suddenly, everything went black. I had a very brief dream.

Gwen was running from a pack of hellhounds. She passed a sign that said _Mark Twain National Forest_. She was somewhere in Missouri. She climbed a tree and hid there. Her heart was beating rapidly as she breathed heavily. Eventually the hellhounds disappeared.

"Is this my punishment for killing the president and vice-president? I was only trying to save lives. Or so I was told." She sighed. "What is that voice in my head? Why did it tell me to kill them? I'm behind schedule. Reyna was supposed to have been saved by now. Stupid rogue demigods and evil criminals slowing me down."

She jumped down, formed a crack in the earth and continued traveling at high speeds underground. The scene then switched. The black-cloaked figure was underwater, and they turned their attention over to me and Percy in the water. As the pocket watch fell, I realized that it was the same design as Tiana's was on the _Princess Andromeda_. The figure noticed that Percy was slowly removing my bikini top as I lay on the bottom of the lake-floor. He held it in his hands, and then the figure snapped their fingers. Time froze around the two of us in a golden bubble but the figure was still moving. They got out a waterproof camera and took a few pictures of us from various different angles. Sometime after getting pictures of us in various positions (you can guess), they showed the images to my mother. She gasped.

"It can't be..."

"It's true." The figure had her hood down, revealing her as Diana. "Your daughter, Annabeth Chase, was raped by Percy Jackson."

"No... I... I can't believe he would do such a thing!"

"It truly is a tragedy. And here's even more reason to kill him; Annabeth is pregnant as a result of that rape."

"No..."

"It's true..." Diana lied while walking around Athena in a circle.

"That damned bastard!" Athena screamed.

She stopped walking and her hand glowed with a ball of golden energy. "You should join me, Goddess of Wisdom. You can get your revenge on Perseus Jackson. Challenge him to a duel and kill him."

Her eyes flashed gold. "Yes... I will join you. I will kill Percy Jackson, as I should have all those years ago when he joined the Romans..."

When I woke up, I found myself on the rooftop. A young girl was floating in midair, several feet above me. For once she wasn't wearing her cloak. The evil maiden wore an empire waist silver dress with a crescent moon belt and a gold bracelet on each wrist. She wore a golden crown with an assortment of precious jewels. She wore an hourglass necklace on a gold chain and triple moon symbol earrings. She looked beautiful yet deadly.

"So, you're finally awake," a familiar voice said.

"Diana! Why are you doing all this?"

She smirked. Hercules and a few other deities were with her. "Oh young girl, I have my reasons. The downfall of the Olympians is long overdue. This world was cruel and never accepted me for who I am. The truth is the world is cruel, cold, and dark. Even if you weren't facing me, do you think you'd survive in your current condition?"

Did she know the truth? Before I could answer, Calypso and the six other demigods of the prophecy appeared. Much to my surprise, Hazel didn't faint.

"Leave her alone you punk!" Percy yelled.

Suddenly, something clicked. I saw all of my visions of Horatia, Sandya and Tiana pass by in chronological order of when they appeared. All at once, everything made sense. Then I saw one last vision before coming to my senses.

Tiana had been resurrected, just came out from the Doors of Death.

"You may have stopped Kronos, but you can't stop me." she said to herself. "I will conquer the cosmos, even if it takes me forever."

The vision ended. Diana looked at Calypso. "You don't know who I am, do you, Calypso? My name is Diana, goddess of time, magic and vengeance."

I glared at her. "No, you're not."

"What words are you trying to fool me with?"

"I should be asking you that. You're not a goddess, you're a hunter of Artemis, whom you chained up and forced to take the burden of the sky. And your real name isn't Diana. It's Horatia. You died a long time ago because Hyperion and Epimetheus killed you indirectly. You came back, pledged loyalty to Artemis and learned magic from Circe. You learned who your father is, and swore vengeance against the gods. You faked your death as Sandya, pledged loyalty to Kronos as Tiana, died in the Battle of Manhattan and came back again through the Doors of Death for a second time during the Second Giant War. You're a liar, and you're manipulative, just like your dear old deceased dad, Kronos!"

The evil maiden gasped. I smirked.

Her loyal followers looked at her. Hercules looked at her sadly. "Is this true?"

I thought she would cry or break down. Her next sentence surprised all of us. "It may be true," she began. "But that doesn't mean I'm any less powerful than I said I was." She formed a sphere of golden energy in her hands. "I'm still extremely powerful, although it's not enough for me." She threw it into the air and a portal opened. Several monsters came crashing down onto the roof including... I gasped aloud.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked.

Arachne and Medusa looked over towards me, bloodthirsty and hungry for revenge. Arachne was the same as she ever was, while Medusa wore a white long dress instead of a long black gown. She wore a black wig, and a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. Despite looking like a normal human, I knew that it was Medusa. I felt all of my courage abandon me when I needed it most.

"That feeling you feel right now, Annabeth, is how I felt when the wolves were after me. This time, however, when you die, you'll never see yourself in the living realm again!" Horatia laughed. "You may have been able to evade death time and time again, but do you and your pathetic friends have any chance against the army of monsters, human mercenaries and demigods?"

Leo glared at Horatia. "You monster! Don't you know that one of your foes is with child?"

"Oh I know, but I don't care. Face it, you can't win. Time is not on your side. Albert Einstein once said that time is an illusion. He couldn't be anymore wrong. Time is very much real. I am more powerful than Kronos was when he took on the host of Luke Castallan! You cannot hope to stop me!"

She snapped her fingers. Horatia and her allies disappeared, but they left a camera in place to watch us die a terrible painful death. Suddenly, our enemies attacked the other seven fighters. Except for two; Medusa and Arachne slowly crept towards me. Medusa begin to discard her disguise and I closed my eyes. With my eyes shut, I walked backwards until my feet hit the one inch concrete railing around the roof. The fall would certainly kill me.

"Give it up Annabeth." Arachne said.

"This is where you meet your end. Now look into my eyes and I can make this pain end..." Medusa spoke.

I dared not look at either of them. How was I going to die? Being encased in stone, or torn apart limb from limb by a monstrous spider? Why did it have to be like this? Why did I have to die at the hands of my worst adversaries? I never asked for this. For this war, this unborn child, this battle... None of it. I never thought it would end this way...


	44. A Curse Breaks

This was really, really bad. As a last ditch resort, I grabbed both of my weapons and slashed at them. They gasped. I overheard the sound of something being kicked off the edge and Arachne crumbling to dust.

"Annabeth, open your eyes." Percy said.

"Medusa's head was knocked off the edge." Piper added.

I opened my eyes and heard the sound of a crash.

"Yep, Medusa's head has smashed into pieces." Frank said.

Calypso and Hazel were holding up a large green and purple barrier.

"Guys, are you done yet?" Calypso asked.

That said barrier was holding back a lot of monsters. Calypso collapsed to the ground and the barrier was broken. We charged and faced all of the monsters. Piper used her cornucopia to throw various vegetables at a bunch of Scythian Dracanae, including Queen Sess. Jason battled against Cleander, Vortigern, Alaric and Marcus. Zethes fought against Hazel, who was attempting to free him from Horatia's control. Calypso faced off against Cade and Mikey using nothing but her strength and wits. Percy and I dueled against Ella and Alabaster.

"You don't have to do this, Ella!" I shouted.

Then we faced off against the humans. They were all vanquished thanks to Leo's fire and Jason's lightning.

"Where are Nico, Thalia and Grover?" I asled.

Piper got a vision in her dagger. As the vision played, we all gathered around her. The vision showed Nico, Thalia, and Grover walking in the woods. They came across an unconscious Gwen and Alyssa.

Gwen slowly woke up. "Ugh... My head..."

"What happened to you guys?" Thalia asled.

"We were ambushed by monsters. I was knocked unconscious and. Oh no..." She started fumbling around. She got out the vial. "Phew, it's still there."

Alyssa looked at Gwen curiously as she woke up. "What is that?"

"It's a vial containing a special potion for Reyna. I have to get back Camp Jupiter."

"I'll take you." Nico said.

"Really? Thank you."

The vision ended.

"They must have gotten side-tracked." Percy stated.

"At least they're helping Gwen. She's only got one day left to save Reyna."

Frank shot an arrow at the camera, breaking it. "Less than that even." He put away his bow and arrows. "The sun's already set in California."

"That is true isn't it?" Hazel asked. Everyone else nodded in agreement with her before she didn't back to me. "Sorry we're late."

I sighed. "It's alright. You got here before I was killed."

"But how did you manage to fight Clytius and all those other guys?" Leo asked. "When Hazel transported us to the pickup spot, we saw a few knocked out deities and the body of Clytius disappear in a black mist."

I looked at them sadly. "I called on Khione."

Percy looked at me curiously. "And she came?"

"She did. She helped me to defeat all of them. She didn't turn on me, despite the enemy's attempts to lure her back into darkness. Her words were and I quote," I tried my best to intimate her voice. "'Being lonely for all eternity would be better than an eternity of pledging myself to evil deities. I learned my lesson, and I won't succumb to the darkness!'"

They applauded my vocal mimicry. Leo stood there, his mouth agape. "Wow, that was actually pretty close to what she sounds like."

"Thank you." I looked at the sky and suddenly felt the temperature get colder. "Let's get somewhere where it's warmer."

Hazel transported us back to Camp Jupiter. Hazel promptly collapsed as we had landed in Reyna's room. Gwen was there, with the potion in her hand. She hesitated.

"Get out of my head." she said aloud.

"Gwen?" I asked softly.

She groaned in pain. "Leave me alone you rogue maiden!"

"Gwen, don't listen to what she has to say!" I exclaimed.

Her eyes were flashing gold repetitively. I grabbed her hand. Gwen blinked and opened the vial, poured the potion down Reyna's throat, and touched her bracelet. She backed away. I let go of her hand.

"Did it work?"

She groaned in pain and ran away. As she did so, Reyna opened her eyes.

"Ugh... My head..."

"Reyna!" Jason threw his arms around her. Piper, surprisingly, didn't seem jealous.

"Oh Jason, my dearest friend. How I've missed you." Reyna stated. She looked around. "What happened with Gwen?"

"She ran away after groaning in pain."

"Oh dear... The evil maiden is still trying to corrupt her."

I scratched my head. "Corrupt her? I thought she wanted her dead."

Reyna sighed. "That's what we thought. But the tides have turned. Now she's trying to use Gwen's hidden pain to corrupt her and make her join the dark side."

"But why would she want Gwen as an ally? She's already got enough rogue gods, deities and mortals to serve her." Piper asked.

"It's never enough for her. Her choices for comrades are limited because of the Second Titan and Giant Wars." I reminded them.

"And we still don't know where her new secret lair is." Calypso groaned.

"New secret lair?"

"She was hiding in the Los Feliz Mansion about a month ago, but somehow, she anticipated an invasion and moved her troops elsewhere."

Piper chimed in, "Not only that, she sent Keto, Phorcys, and Janus to try and kill us. Obviously, we defeated them and we sent them to Mount Olympus."

Suddenly, an idea popped into my brain.

"I got an idea of where she might be."

"Where?" Frank asked me curiously.

I answered, "The ruins of Mount Othyrs."

"What? But Jason and I led the Twelth Legion to that godforsaken place years ago. We destroyed it! There shouldn't be anything left!" Reyna exclaimed.

"And Horatia shouldn't be alive, but she is." I retorted.

Reyna looked at me curiously. "Who's Horatia?"

"The evil maiden we've been hunting." Frank answered. "Annabeth put all the pieces together and solved the mystery. Every dream, every vision. She figured out who she is."

Hazel woke and said wearily, "But we still don't know what she wants."

"No, we don't." I stated sadly.

"We better gather our forces, Reyna." Frank said.

Piper widened her eyes in realization. "Oh yeah. Now that Reyna's been restored, Percy now steps down."

"So Percy Jackson kept his word?" Reyna inquired.

"I was somewhat reluctant, I will not lie." He looked over at Argentum and Aurum. "But after Reyna's demise, I realized I couldn't abandon my friends, or my duty as Praetor. Also, because of Nathan falling under Horatia's control, he would become Praetor and potentially cause even more disaster for the cursed camp."

"Guys, haven't you realized it?" Calypso asked. "Hazel, do you know what I'm talking about?"

The daughter of Pluto smiled. "I do. I feel a huge positive energy in the air and the negativity fading away."

We looked at them like they were speaking a foreign language. Percy was the most perplexed. "What are you two talking about?"

"The Curse of Camp Jupiter is broken." Calypso answered.

The dogs didn't attack Calypso or growl at her, so she wasn't lying.

Reyna smiled. "It seems Gwen was right. Restoring me did break the curse."

"Although now several people know her secrets and she's on the verge of falling into the rogue maiden's hands." Jason said.

"Then we must begin preparing for an invasion at once." Reyna said.

"We best contact Nico, Thalia and Grover." I suggested. "Where are the golden drachmas?"

A few minutes later, we learned that Nico, Thalia, Grover and Alyssa were joining us for battle. Tomorrow morning, we were to storm Mount Othrys (or whatever remained of Kronos's palace). I tried to sleep, but I was feeling restless. I should have been feeling tired from the battle, but I wasn't. I finally fell into deep sleep after who knows how long.


	45. Gwen Looks Into the Face of Her Father

My dreams were still not pleasant. Horatia and her subjects were at their new lair, standing on the rooftop. The sky was dim and overcast. Some of her servants and allies were very angry with her.

"Look, I know you're mad at me, and you have good reason to be, but I'm still very powerful and formidable. Just look at the chaos we've caused under my great leadership."

"She's right." Geryon mentioned.

Chrysaor nodded in agreement. "She does have a point there."

"But we've lost several allies. Phobos and Deimos were defeated and imprisoned in the Underworld. Keto, Phorcys and Janus were sent to Mount Olympus and later on imprisoned by Hephaestus. Ella was freed from mind control, and all of our other human or partially human mercenaries were killed by Calypso and the seven demigods. Not to mention that Clytius was killed by the combined efforts of Khione and Annabeth." Melinoe said. "We're spreading ourselves too thin."

"We're very close to victory. Aren't we?" Hercules asked, looking at the girl formerly known as Diana.

Horatia nodded at him. "We are." She looked back at the crowd. "The only gods left on Mount Olympus are Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, Dionysus, Hephaestus and Hebe. This is the lowest amount of residents Mount Olympus has had in centuries, millennia even! And with most of these gods fighting each other in endless combat, the time is right to launch the final phase of the plan."

"What about Demeter?" Zethes asked.

Horatia smirked. "She left for Florida about a month ago. She's disconnected herself from the world of the gods. Obviously, Persephone is with her husband Hades. And everyone else is either in my clutches, joined me, scattered across the globe or otherwise incapable of stopping me."

"So why exactly are we causing chaos?" Pasiphae asked.

"Because there is an item on Mount Olympus. Once I get my hands on it, I must then burn it to achieve ultimate power. However, that said object is in a glass container that is guarded by the gods. The less gods there are, the less security, and the easier it will be to obtain that said item. Beforehand, there is something else close to the most desired object. That second object must be broken, or if nothing else, opened again. Once I get my hands on the heavily guarded item and burn it, that ultimate power is mine!"

"You seem to have a plan, even if you won't tell us everything." Koios stated.

"I would, but I like keeping you guys on your toes. Also, what fun is there in spoiling the surprise? You'll all find out soon enough."

"Although I have a question for you; if you died twice, why don't you accept any offers of god-level immortality?" Antaeus inquired.

"Two reasons; the first being that I'm a hunter of Artemis and can live forever, and second, if I were to accept being a goddess, I'd lose the little humanity I have left, since my mother was a nymph who gave up her powers. I must keep my humanness for a while longer."

"But why?" Atlas asked.

She smirked. "You'll see." She snapped her fingers. "Athena!"

The goddess of wisdom bowed down before Horatia. "Yes, mistress Diana?"

"Tell me the quickest route to the Throne Room of Olympus from the entrance at the Empire State building."

The dream shifted to Gwen. She was running, but she wasn't being chased. She was tripped up and started tumbling down a mountain. She eventually landed in a pile of rose bushes. The thorns scratched her and she yelped in pain. She was no longer wearing her formal outfit from Circe, but instead wore black jean shorts that exposed her legs to the cold air, a purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt with a leather jacket and black combat boots. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she looked really tired and somewhat injured. She still wore the bracelet around her left wrist. Then she looked away from it sadly.

 _You're all alone, aren't you? Tired, hungry and oh so lonely._

"Leave me alone."

 _Why? I'm trying to help you._

"I said, 'Leave me alone!'"

 _But you're all alone in more ways than one. They know you're the daughter of death himself._ _Everyone at camp knows who you really are, including your beloved Michael. Your husband doesn't love you anymore and the curse of Camp Jupiter only got worse because of your actions. You thought you could save the camp, but you ultimately doomed everyone!  
_

"No... You're lying!"

 _Would I lie to you, Gwendolyn Ishimaya?_

Gwen breathed in and out before slowly getting up. She saw blood dripping down her legs from cuts on her lower thigh. She sighed. "Why should I believe you?"

 _He doesn't love you anymore. You're all alone. Your father hates you, your grandparents are gone, and your husband has no feelings for you.  
_

Gwen ran. She already knew her father didn't care much about her safety, and at this point, she too was being reckless. She jumped over wet electrical wires as she ran towards a city.

"Get out of my head!"

 _I'm not in your head, young necromancer._

"I said, 'Get out!'"

She closed and tried to banish the evil presence. She started screaming. She stumbled and started walking backwards until her back was towards a cliff. She saw a pack of wolves coming towards her. She hesitated. She didn't want to kill them, but she didn't want to die.

 _You're as dark and evil as your father. You're just as horrible as he is! Isn't that what you called him in the past?_

She didn't answer. She looked at the cliff below her. The fall would be hundreds of feet in the air. She walked with her back to the cliff. With sorrow in her heart, she jumped off, deciding to face her father. She looked at her bracelet as she fell. She closed her eyes and I woke up with a start. I breathed heavily for about ten seconds, then fell back first onto my bed. My alarm was about to go off in five minutes. Instead of sleeping some more, I got up, got into my battle gear and went to the mess hall, waiting for the others.


	46. Running Out of Time

After breakfast, we marched to Mount Tamalpais. The hike was long, but it wasn't unbearable. I felt a bad feeling of dread in my stomach. I didn't know why it was happening though. I tried to shrug it off. We went up to the Mountain of Despair. Frank had turned into an eagle and was scouting out the area.

"Annabeth, what are you doing here?" Artemis asked.

I looked at her with the calmest expression I could muster. "We've come to try and find the evil maiden Horatia."

Artemis looked at me curiously. "Horatia?"

"That's her true name, but she has used the aliases of Sandya, Tiana and Diana." Percy answered.

"No wonder I recognized her. Next to Zoe Nightshade, she was one of the best hunters ever until her supposed death."

Frank the eagle landed and turned back into a human form. "Looks like Annabeth was right. Mount Othyrs has been repaired and the front doors are being guarded by Queen Sess and Kampe."

"I didn't expect Queen Sess to reform that quickly." Jason muttered to himself, unheard over Percy's screaming.

"Kampe?!" Percy shrieked.

"Keep it down, water boy!" Leo whispered.

Percy glared at Leo. "I thought I told you not to call me that." He then turned to me. "Got any ideas, Wise Girl?"

I explained a fully-detailed plan and a few minutes later, we infiltrated the fortress. Frank, in eagle form, flew around the monsters in a circle, completely confusing them and making them dizzy. Then Hazel appeared forth and used the mist to make them fall into an abyss. The abyss disappeared and we marched inside. As we expected, several guards tried to kill us. Geryon and Chrysaor were the first to charge towards us. Percy fought Chrysaor and Geryon as Pheme, Enyo and Eris ran towards us.

I frowned. "I thought me and Khione defeated these guys!"

Eris smirked. "Diana freed us before the gods showed up to take us away."

The war goddess looked at me curiously. "Why do you think Ella and Alabaster returned, resulting in the latter's death?"

I didn't answer and instead fought against the war goddess. She threw grenade after grenade at us. We all had difficultly dodging them, and Piper even dropped to her knees by the time Enyo was done. Fortunately, Geryon and Chrysaor were not so lucky to survive the exploding chaos around us and they disintegrated into dust. Unfortunately, the war goddess was not done with us.

"And now for my next trick..."

She got a bow and arrow and started shooting at us. Frank was kept busy by using his gladius against Eris, who wielded a Celestial bronze dagger. Pheme fought against Leo without any physical weapons. As she punched him and kicked him down, she taunted him.

"You're all alone. You're just an eighth wheel!"

He covered his ears and then glared at her. "No! Shut up!"

We needed a plan. I suspected more guards would be here soon, and we had to stop Horatia once and for all. I was somewhat surprised that she didn't attack me. Then again, she was trying to kill all of us. Soon Pasiphae and Hecuba had arrived. Calypso dueled against Prometheus while Pasiphae went up against Piper. Hecuba was a pretty looking adversary. Her skin was tanned to perfection, one would argue and it accented her green eyes and long black hair pulled into a knotted bun. She wore a long black dress with matching elbow-length gloves. Her black heels added three inches to her height. She wielded a spear and charged towards me.

I swiftly dodged her moves with little effort. Partially because I was a skilled fighter and partially because she was really bad at wielding a spear. I'm not kidding. She thought she was supposed to twirl it as if it was a fidget spinner. I easily dodged her moves, although Percy was not quite so lucky. Neither were Pheme and Eris, the latter of which was just knocked out thanks to the combined efforts of Frank and Hazel. Pheme was thrown into the wall with a blast of fire and knocked out. Eris and Pheme were soon tied up and thrown into an imaginary pit created by Hazel.

Koios and Antaeus charged towards us.

"Where are Diana, Hercules and Atlas?" Percy asked.

I suddenly saw an image of Melinoe, Atlas, Hercules and Athena stood on a rooftop with Horatia. Horatia glowed with golden energy.

"The invasion of Olympus starts now!" the evil maiden declared.

The vision ended. I looked at my friends. "Guys, we've got to get to the rooftop! Horatia and her allies are about to invade Mount Olympus!"

Our enemies gasped. They knew what their master was doing (or trying to do).

"Stop them!" Koios ordered.

Why was it that we were battling impossible odds? Then again, Magnus Chase, Sadie Kane and her brother Carter did this all the time; Battle against all odds. Pretty much sums up the life of a demigod (or Magician in Sadie and Carter's case). Me, Percy and Grover ran away from the battle up to the rooftop. We ran to the nearest staircase, which, unfortunately, was a spiral staircase of stone. Before I had time to think (or internally groan or panic), Percy grabbed me by the hand as we sprinted up the stairs. Within less than a minute, we found the five immortal deities on the rooftop.

"You're too late fools! The portal to Olympus is already open! You cannot stop us!" Athena proclaimed.

I growled loudly and ran towards her. My boyfriend and his best friend quickly followed suit.

"You want us to handle it?" Hercules asked.

Horatia smirked. "I got this." She snapped her fingers, which glowed with golden energy, and suddenly, we found ourselves frozen in time. Surprisingly, I was still aware of everything going on around me. "You see? Kronos in his host form couldn't even do that. Just imagine what I can do once I have ultimate power!" She laughed to herself before turning back to her servants. "Those effects are only temporary. We need to move!"

Athena entered the portal, followed by Melinoe, Atlas, Hercules and finally Horatia herself entered the portal. The portal vanished, leaving the three of us frozen in time. True to her word, the effects of being frozen in time wore off within a few minutes.

"This is bad... Really bad." Grover started whimpering.

The others showed up. Hazel looked at me, giving me a status report. "We've slayed Antaeus and defeated our other foes."

"Great, but Diana's gotten away!" Percy exclaimed.

"Nico, Hazel, shadow transport us to Olympus!" I ordered.

They used the large shadow of the fortress and we tumbled through darkness.


	47. The End of All Hope

Hazel and Nico transported all of us directly to Mount Olympus. We were running out of time. The bridge between the realm of the gods and the human world was quickly fading. The chaotic aura I felt on Olympus when me, Percy and Grover faced Kronos all those years ago was present, but ten times stronger. We were running out of time. I wondered how Percy and Grover felt about the new, stronger, and more powerful chaotic energy.

"We gotta move!" I exclaimed.

Frank turned into a stallion and I immediately mounted him. As I rode on Frank's back, the rest of us ran. We suddenly stopped and Frank came to sudden halt. Melinoe stood there facing us.

"You fools. You're too late! The Bane of Olympus is already doomed. Even if you should get past me, do you really think you can face Diana and her allies?"

The Bane of Olympus? Does that mean... Oh no...

Reyna glared at her. "We won't be intimidated by your mere words! There's twelve of us and only one of you."

"I may be outnumbered, but you are the ones who are outmatched. Do you really think you can face me and my assistant?"

A figure with a black cloak walked forward. They wore black gloves on their hands as if they were trying to hide something.

"So, what do you think?" She turned to her ally. "Do you think they can stop me?"

The figure spoke, "They do not have a chance against us."

That voice sounded very similar, no, wait, exactly like Margaret Hamilition.

But _she's been dead for a long time. How could it_ be? I thought to myself.

"You guys go." Nico commanded.

Thalia got out her bow and several arrows. "We'll stop the goddess and her apprentice."

"But..." Percy started to protest.

"Go!" they both shouted at us.

We continued onward. Athena had also cornered us, forcing Grover and Reyna to stay behind to try and defeat her. On our way to the Hall of the Gods, we saw all of the remaining gods on Olympus knocked unconscious.

"Oh no..."

"Guys, look!"

Hazel pointed to the throne room. Horatia was carrying a pithos about three feet tall with black and white drawings and designs. She carried a blade on her belt. Was that? My train of thought derailed itself as I looked at the pithos. As she held it in her hands, Atlas and Hercules punched the glass with the Ophiotaurus. I gasped, realizing what her plan was.

"This glass is tough!" Atlas complained.

"Keep going!" Hercules ordered.

"Hold it right there, Horatia!" I got off of Frank the horse and got out my weapons. "Your conquest ends now!"

She laughed at us. "You're too late, little heroes. As of now, the hearth has been destroyed and all hope is gone forever!"

She threw Pandora's pithos onto the ground, shattering it into a thousand pieces. A girl emerged from the Greek vase that once held so many evils. She appeared as an eleven year old girl with short black hair, sad blue eyes and she wore a long orange dress that reached to the floor. She had a flickering bright yellow aura around her.

"Elpis..." I whispered.

"The spirit of hope..." Percy added.

"She is no longer with you. You can't hope to stop me!" Horatia looked towards Atlas. "Atlas, deal with these intruders while me and Hercules finish what you two started."

We fought against Atlas. As the eight of us tried (and miserably failed) to stop him, Diana unshethed the blade on her belt and slashed the glass of the aquarium relentlessly. Hercules punched the glass walls with both of his fists.

"We have to stop them! If we fail here, the world is doomed!" I reminded them.

"Oh yeah, no pressure!" Jason sarcastically commented as he dodged one of his punches.

Piper tried to stab him with her dagger, but he shook her off effortlessly. Calypso fired a beam of energy at him, making him more back a few feet. He screamed loudly, which made all everyone except for me, Diana, Calypso, and Hercules go airborne and crash on the ground. Me and Calypso jumped in time, successfully dodging his energy wave attack. I put on my invisibility cap as Atlas made his way over to Calypso.

"Tell me, Calypso, why do you defy me? You aided me in the First Titan War, why do you do this? You should be helping me!"

"No way am I ever helping you! You were a terrible father!"

"Terrible father? I didn't swallow my own children like Kronos did!" Horatia cleared her throat and glared at Atlas. "Sorry boss."

She resumed trying to break the cage. I stabbed Atlas in the back with both my dagger and my sword. He was so angry and he unintentionally knocked off my Yankees Cap, rendering me visible. My sneak attack wasn't enough to defeat him, but it did injure him. We continued to fight him.

"How tough did they make this blasted cage?!" Hercules asked his mistress over the ruckus of fighting.

"We're almost there!"

"Try using Backbiter in its true form!" Hercules suggested.

She held the blade and I gasped. It turned into Kronos' scythe.

Percy too gasped and stood with his mouth agape. "Backbiter?! But it was destroyed in the fires of Hestia!"

"That's what I wanted you to think." She held her scythe with one of hands and twirled it. "I'm afraid what you saw was a mere illusion. I claimed that sword and kept it with me, even in death! Now you shall soon face death!"

I saw cracks form in the cage and suddenly the glass broke. Water spilled out everywhere. Percy used some of his water to attack Atlas, which affected him slightly, but alas, it was not enough. I saw Horatia slay the Ophiotaurus by stabbing him (or was it a her?) with her blade. In no time at all, the Ophiptaurus was dead. I ran towards her, but Hercules grabbed me by the neck and held me in his grasp as if I were a scrawny kitten.

"Let me... go!" I gasped.

"If you thought you could hurt my queen, then you were mistaken!"

He threw me directly into Athena's throne. My head spun. I noticed that Atlas was finally knocked out by a blast of water from Percy, but I felt so weak. When I finally managed to stand up, I saw that Horatia was standing next to a flame.

"I hate to break it to you, but your time is up. The sand is at the bottom of the hourglass!" She dropped the entrails into the fire. Many of us gasped in terror. She was engulfed in a rainbow colored light. She rose up into the air as the light surrounded her. Hercules smiled as we stood there in shock and in terror. She laughed evilly. "Yes, yes, YES! I can feel all of the power in the world at my fingertips! This world is mine!"

She unleashed bolts of purple lightning at all of us.


	48. I Make My Last Stand

We held our mouths wide open in terror; we had lost. Hope itself was gone and Horatia had gained ultimate power. Then she fired lightning at us. We barely dodged. Jason didn't need to dodge, since he could easily redirect it. The electrically bounced off her harmlessly before fading away. Then she raised her arms and a huge tidal wave approached us. Percy tried to hold it back, but he had great difficultly doing so. He crashed on the ground before getting back up.

"You can't stop me! Just give it up!" Horatia exclaimed.

"We're not giving up! As long as we stand, as long as we can fight, we'll never give up!" Leo proclaimed.

Calypso glared at Horatia. "You've picked the wrong pack of heroes to mess with!"

"Do you think we'll just give up so easily?!" Piper asked her.

"No! We'll never stop! We'll fight you to the end even if it kills us!" Jason exclaimed.

She shrugged. "Have it your way."

The all-powerful maiden then grew vines out of nowhere which tried to entangle us, so we had to cut them, but they kept growing right back. Piper got really hurt by the vines but she ate an ambrosia square and shrugged it off. Eventually we managed to get rid of the plants and then she threw large balls of fire at us. Leo tried redirect them at her, but they bounced off her harmlessly.

"Damn, is this woman immune to anything and everything?!" Leo asked in exasperation.

Percy dragged her down with water chains and trapped her in a spear of water. She didn't suffocate. She laughed evilly.

"It seems to be so."

She broke free from the water sphere and landed on the ground. Horatia smirked. "What part of 'all of the power in the world' do you not understand? I have limitless power! Why don't you give up?!"

I felt sad. I wanted to cry. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. Was this how the Norse Gods felt about having to face their ultimate fates during Ragnarok?

"We can't give up, Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed.

Frank charged towards her. She put her hand to his head, holding him back as she used magic to create various traps we had to dodge.

"You know Herc, you could help a girl out."

She pushed the shape-shifter to the ground. "I didn't want to get in your way."

The evil maiden looked towards him, almost adoringly. "Oh, you're not in my way. I would tell you if you were."

Hercules ran forth and threw Leo into the wall. He was knocked out instantly. Calypso and Hazel towards him simultaneously only for Hazel to be knocked out and Calypso had both of her arms broken. She howled in pain that startled all of us. She soon fell unconscious. Three fighters were already down and not even a minute had passed. This was bad. Really bad. I was internally panicking.

"We can't let up!" Piper said.

I got out my swords and charged towards the evil maiden. She threw several beams of sunlight and moonlight at me and I had to move very quickly to dodge them all. Then she threw darkness at Percy's eyes.

"What?! I can't see!"

Frank charged towards Hercules in the form of a bull, and because he was turned the other way, didn't see Frank coming and was knocked into a pillar, knocking him out. The pillar crumbled and almost landed on Horatia, but she snapped her fingers. It stopped falling in midair. She walked away from the pillar, used air currents to drag Piper to the shadow of the pillar and made it collapse on her, crushing her.

I had never seen Jason more horrified. "Piper! NO!"

He then growled and charged towards her, and she summoned bones to trip him up and he fell to the ground and hit his head. Hazel tried throwing gems at her, but Horatia threw them back at her, cutting her arms and knocking her down. The evil maiden looked towards Percy, who was still blinded by her attack of darkness.

"Come forth, Percy."

He did so. She was using charmspeak on him! I tried to stop him but he broke free from my grasp and walked up towards the evil maiden. I threw my arms around him, but he threw me aside like a rag doll. My head hurt. Surprisingly, he didn't falter, hesitate or trip as he walked towards her. She got out backbiter and stabbed Percy in the chest. I gasped in terror as he fell to the ground.

"I have defeated all of your friends using my ultimate power, and they're the ones who have powers! You Annabeth Chase, have none. If your friends couldn't stop me, what makes you think you can?"

I didn't answer and tried to focus on my objective, but everything seemed so bleak. It seemed all of the colors of the world faded. I blinked and charged towards her, only for her for throw ice shards at me. I barely dodged them, and soon my head spun. I threw my dragon bone sword at her, only for it to completely miss. As I dodged her boulders, I retrieved the sword and then noticed a red shock wave spreading throughout the heavens. I had just witnessed the destruction of the city of Olympus.

I glared at her. "You monster! How could you do this?!"

She chuckled sisterly to herself. "Look at your friends." Everyone I knew... Everyone I loved... Were they all dead? "They're all gone! You can't save them, you can't save yourself, your daughter, and you couldn't save Luke!"

 _My... daughter?_ Was I... And Luke? I had no time to think.

"You can not stop the tide of death and destruction!"

She threw a beam of multicolored energy at me, knocking me to the ground. I was so tempted to faint, but I had to remind myself not to. I began to hallucinate, seeing a future that was never to come true. Percy was there, Posideon and Athena were getting along, and I was setting down a picnic basket with a young girl. She had long black hair in a ponytail and grey eyes. I turned my mind back to reality. I still had both of my weapons in hand. I thought I saw a bright yellow light. Or was it gold?

 _Is there any hope left?_ I clinched my right fist. I knew the answer.


	49. I Become Responsible for the End of Time

I stood up and looked at Horatia; She was summoning a lot of energy and she was floating in midair. Somehow, I knew what she was going to do- destroy the thrones of the gods.

"Don't give up, Annabeth." a soft feminine voice said.

I turned and saw Elpis, who glowed with incredible yellow light around her. Then I thought of an idea. It was incredibly risky and defied all logic, but logic had been tossed out the window a long time ago. And it's the only idea I had.

"Elpis, can you help me?"

She looked at me curiously. "What do you need?"

"I need you to throw me towards her."

The spirit of hope didn't question my plan. She then blasted me with yellow energy at a rapid speed towards Horatia. I slashed my weapons at her chest and her arm. She screamed in agony as she fell back first onto the ground. I landed on my feet and she groaned in pain.

The evil maiden got up. "No! I will not succumb to defeat!"

She blasted a beam of silver and gold energy towards me, but it hit my mother's throne instead. It started to crumble before my eyes.

"This is for Percy!"

I stabbed Horatia in the gut with both of my weapons. She screamed in pain before falling to the ground yelling, "Curse you Annabeth!"

A large thud was heard. It was over. Horatia was dead. There was a moment of silence before I realized...

"Percy!"

I ran over to him. He looked so lifeless. I held his body within my arms and sobbed uncontrollably. A number of gods soon showed up. These gods included Mars, Aphrodite, Jupiter, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Pluto, Dionysus and Hebe.

"Oh no..." Poseidon said. He gasped upon seeing Percy. He formed a water sphere and put him into it. Aphrodite and Mars lifted the column that crushed Piper.

"Is she okay?" Mars asked.

Soon Apollo arrived and saw all the causalities. "Oh dear..."

"Can you help them?" I asked.

"Most of your friends have been knocked unconscious. Piper, Percy and Calypso have been seriously injured however." Apollo began to heal Piper as the others woke up.

"Ow... What happened?" Leo asked drowsily.

"Ugh..." Calypso groaned. "Ow! I think that jerk Hercules broke some of my bones!"

Apollo healed up Calypso. "Normally I wouldn't heal broken bones, but sometime during my time as a mortal, I think I may have broken some myself."

"Is Percy... dead?" I asked.

Pluto walked up to the water sphere as Reyna, Grover, Thalia and Nico walked into the room. Nico was completely unconscious, being carried by Grover and Thalia. The god of death and wealth looked grim.

"I'm afraid..."

Suddenly Percy gasped and woke up. He soon realized that he was suspended in a water bubble. He motioned for me to come closer and extended his hand out of the bubble. I took his hand and entered the water bubble, being completely dry as Percy threw his arms around me.

"I feel so weak..." he murmured. "I thought I was going to lose you."

I started tearing up and threw my arms around him. "Oh, Percy! I thought you were dead! I'm so glad you're ok!"

I heard everyone saying, "Aw..." and or smiling. I heard a voice and turned around, but the spirit of Horatia was stopped dead in her tracks.

"Hold it right there!" a feminine voice shrieked. It came from the same black-cloaked figure who was with Melinoe. "You are not getting away this time!" She pulled her arms as if Horatia's spirit was entrapped in chains and pulled her spirit into a bracelet with white and black gems.

"Thanatos, is that you?" Hebe asked.

"That can't be him. Their voice is way too feminine!" Dionysus exclaimed.

Jupiter immediately turned back to Zeus, who held his Master Bolt in his hand. "Hooded necromancer, identity yourself or face the wrath of my thunderbolt!"

"I will take down my hood," she began. "But be warned, you may not like who see."

She took her hands and slowly took her hood down, revealing Gwen. Many of us gasped and I gasped the loudest.

"Gwendolyn?" Jason asked.

I exited the water bubble. "But how? I thought you were dead! I saw you jump off a cliff."

"I was supposed to die from that fall, but I happened to land in a pond. One of the evil maiden's servants found me and saved me. In return, I had to pretend that I would willingly join her. By doing this, I attempted to get her alone and kill her, but this proved to be impossible with her subjects, especially Hercules."

"Her name is Horatia." I explained. "That's her true name."

I explained who Horatia was, her past, and every one of her servants. Afterwards, Pluto looked at Gwen suspiciously. "Did you resurrect Percy?"

She stuttered. Thanatos appeared and gave her an intense glare. She held her hands in surrender. "It's true. Guilty as charged. I know I'm not supposed to be resurrecting poor unfortunate souls." She extended her closed fists as if she was waiting to be handcuffed. "So I shall take his place."

We all gasped. Reyna looked at her sadly. "Gwen! You can't do that!"

"It'll be alright. I doubt my father will even keep his promise. He's cruel."

He looked at his daughter. He put his hand on her shoulder, which, surprisingly, didn't kill her. "I'm not going to force you to sacrifice yourself."

"How...?" Frank tried to ask.

"I'm death's daughter, of course I'd be immune to his deadly touch."

"In fact..." He got out a scroll with the signatures of _Juno_ and _Lucina_. Gwen held her hands to her face as she gasped in awe. "I'm almost done. All I need is Diana's signature, but I haven't been able to find her anywhere. Where in the world is she?!"

"She's chained into holding up the sky." Leo answered.

Those who didn't know yelled, "What?!"

"No wonder I couldn't find her!" Apollo said. He then found an unconscious Atlas. "I'm going to put this outlaw back in his place."

"I'll go with you. Just to be sure that he doesn't escape." Hephaestus said.

The god of blacksmiths and the god of healing left with Atlas to find Artemis. Dionysus, Zeus, Poseidon and Pluto left to deal with Hercules. Gwen rubbed her arm awkwardly. She looked at her bracelet.

"I see you still have your bracelet." her father noted.

"Don't you remember, you enchanted it so that I couldn't lose it or get rid of it."

"You tried to get rid of it?" Leo asked.

She chuckled. "Numerous times. It was a gift for my 16th birthday. It also serves as a Stygian iron sword when thrown into the air." She demonstrated. Her bracelet turned into a sword with a silver halt with an onyx on it. She pressed down on the onyx, turning her sword back into a bracelet. She looked away sadly. "I still don't understand how it happened."

"I know you have the idea that the miscarriage occurred because of your powers and your parentage. You were cursed for a different reason. Do you remember that one year you spent in your homeland of Tokyo?"

Her eyebrows widened. "I haven't recalled those memories in years."

"You remember your high school? And you remember a girl named Hinata Maki?"

Thanatos snapped his fingers and a screen appeared, showing footage of a 16 year old Gwen being thrown back-first into a wall, then being pushed down the stairs and being tripped up by a 17 year old girl with short black hair, green eyes and an all black wardrobe. Her name was Hinata Maki.

"She bullied you. You were never one for fighting or standing up for yourself, but one day, you declared you had had enough of it."

The scene switched to Gwen punching Hinata down.

"I've had enough of this. I don't know why you're like this, but I'm not dealing with it anymore!"

She got out her blade. "Stop! Stop! Have you no mercy for one with child?" Hinata pleaded.

Gwen widened her eyes and gasped loudly. She put her sword away. "Who... who did this to you?"

"My father. He's been bullying me his whole life. I have no way to release my anger."

She looked her hands. "Look, normally I would not advise this, but in your case, I think you should get an abortion."

Hinata looked at her questionably. "Isn't that like illegal in this country?"

"In most cases. But they'd make an expectation since you were molested."

"Even then, I'd still need parental consent, and my father would never allow it."

Gwen put her finger to her chin. "What about your mother?"

Hinata sniffed, trying to hold back tears. "She's an angel in the ground."

She turned sorrowful. "Oh. I'm so sorry for your loss. Your not the only one who's lost their mother."

"I thought your father was dead."

"Oh, he's not dead, but he's very busy and doesn't really care about me. I also hate the work he does. And I thought my father was terrible!"

"Why? What does he do?"

She hesitated. "To put it in simple terms, he's a bounty hunter."

"Of course, since you claim to respect life."

"Hinata, what's the matter?" She turned away. "Hinata?"

She slapped Gwen, which caused her to stumble into the wall.

"You're just trying to trick me, but it won't work! May you lose your loved one in the worst possible way ten years from now!"

She ran away, leaving Gwen there. The screen disappeared.

"You thought it would refer to one of your living relatives or your husband, so you tried so hard to protect them. You didn't realize that the curse would apply to the unborn, but that made it all the more devastating."

Suddenly her wrist jerked involuntarily. She groaned in agony.

"Gwen, what's happening?!" Reyna asked.

"Horatia's trying to escape!" she answered.

She was suddenly knocked down as Horatia's spirit escaped the bracelet. Thanatos quickly grabbed her. "You're not going anywhere!"

Gwen slowly got up. "I better transport her to the Underworld before she escapes again."

"I'll go with you, just for added security. Also, this gives us some time to bond."

She smiled darkly. "If that's your idea of father-daughter time, then let's get on with it."

"No, this can't be happening! I'm innocent, I tell you!" Horatia exclaimed.

Thanatos looked at her doubtfully. "That's what they all say."

He and Gwen started marching her off. "Curse you, Annabeth Chase!" Horatia screamed.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of Hades." Gwen said.

The two disappeared and then I realized...

 _Oh no..._

During this fight, I probably suffered from a miscarriage with all those devastating blows... Before I could say anything aloud, I saw a strange vision. Magnus was standing in a tundra (Niflheim possibly?) face to face with a woman wearing a long black dress. Her skin was leathery and she hid her face with a white veil. Her gloves were as red as blood. And that was all I had seen before the vision ended.

Zeus then reappeared. "Annabeth Chase, Hero and Savior of Olympus. We can not thank you enough for saving not only us and our home, but the entire universe. You can ask us for anything you desire as long as it is within our power."

"I.. I don't know what to say." I slowly answered.

Hera and Hestia reappeared. The former smiled as she looked at me. "I have a deal for her, if she will accept it; the ultimate dream wedding."

I was bewildered. "You... you would do that?"

She smiled warmly. "Of course I would."

"Even though we hated each other for several years?"

"That's all water under the bridge now. You never did answer my question though."

"In this case, yes. Although I never proposed to him." I turned to Percy Jackson.

"Well, I think that can easily be fixed." Hestia said. She made an apple appear in my hands. "You're a smart cookie. How do you propose with this?"

I smiled. I threw the apple towards Percy, who was out of his water bubble and smart enough to catch it. "I do."

A chorus of gods and demigods said, "Aw..." Then my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID. It was Magnus.

"Sorry. Do you mind if I take this?" I asked.

"No, go ahead. I'm sure your cousin wants to hear from you." Aphrodite said.

I pressed accept and held the phone to my ear, walking away from the Olympians. "Hello?"

"Oh Annabeth, I didn't think you were going to respond."

I asked, "How come?"

His voice shuttered with sorrow and fear. "I've been trying to call you for the last two hours! Where have you been?!"

"It's a long story. I hope you have a tuxedo, cause you're going to need one."

He groaned. "Oh no, don't tell me there's another wedding to crash."

I chuckled. "Oh don't worry, Magnus. No crashing or bride impersonating is required."

"That's great. Who's the lucky lovebirds?"

"Me and Percy."


	50. Love and Hope Eternal

The day had come. It was a good one actually. It was Friday, February 17th of 2017. To escape the cold weather and have a somewhat warm climate for a seaside wedding, we choose a wedding hall in Orlando, Florida called Vero Beach Hotel and Spa. Hera and some other gods agreed to deal with the cost and the paperwork. I was glad to have my friends by my side. There were a lot of people present (more than I would have liked, but when your famous you have a lot of gods and goddesses at your wedding), which kinda made me nervous. There were more people present (when you combine gods, friends, family and other acquaintances) then the maximum seating limit. I tried to read a book as Piper brushed my hair, but I found it difficult and put the book away.

"Everything will be fine." Piper told me as she finishing brushing my hair.

"Thanks, Pipes."

She smiled at the nickname. I looked at my hair, all styled up in a beautiful top bun. She then carefully placed a crown of beautifully colored seashells (which were borrowed from Alyssa) onto my head. I stood up and looked at myself in a full body mirror. I stood there in a light blue tuelle wedding gown with blue and white sandals, which were surprisingly comfortable, that Percy bought for me. I wore the red coral pendant that Percy gave me a long time ago. Thanks to some spanx underneath my dress, my barely noticeable pregnancy couldn't be seen at all.

"Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Check, check, check and check."

"Hey Annabeth, you got some friends here to see you." Jason said.

I went with the other demigods and Calypso to the lobby and I saw the Kanes and their friends; Walt-Anubis, Zia Rashid, and about 20 or so trainees.

"Wow. You guys brought the entire cavalry." I noted.

"Things have been stressful in the Brooklyn House lately." Carter answered. "All hands are on deck if something goes awry."

Percy looked around. "Where's your uncle?"

"Amos? He wasn't interested in coming, so he decided to watch over Brooklyn House and its pets while we were away." one of the Magicians answered.

He looked worried. "What happened? Is Brooklyn House under attack?"

"No. Bast and Amos are there to defend the place. A god has lost his marbles and is causing chaos all over New York City. " another answered.

Walt-Anubis looked grim. "In fact, if he strikes the wedding reception tonight, we'll have another battle on our hands."

"Not another battle.." a brown-haired girl muttered.

A female recruit glared at her. "Put a sock in it, Cleo."

Sadie glared at him. "Could you guys try to speak separately so that you don't freak anyone out?"

"Sorry." a more natural voice (Walt) said. "Force of habit." He cleared his throat. "It's also quite difficult to speak with a single voice when you're constantly sharing a body with a god. No offense, Anubis."

Walt-Anubis smiled. Anubis spoke, "None taken."

Leo looked at Walt-Anubis strangely. He blinked twice and rubbed both of his eyes. "Did that guy just speak with two voices?"

"Yes, they did." Carter answered.

Sadie then elbowed him in the ribs. Then I had to explain the Egyptian gods and the magicians who used their power.

"Huh, that would explain a lot." Hazel remarked.

Magnus Chase and his crew then showed up. He had Alex, Sam, Amir, Hearthstone, Blitzen, Mallory,

"Long time no see. Although, I thought the bride and groom were not supposed before the wedding begins."

Alex smacked him upside the head. "That's an old superstition that dates back to when marriages were arranged."

I then had to briefly explain Norse Mythology to everyone. (The Chase Crew already knew about Egyptian gods and magic, so i didn't have to explain that a second time. Thank the gods.)

"Man, who knew life was so complicated no matter which pantheon you're in?" Felix asked.

We all shrugged before laughing. A few minutes before the wedding, I took a peek and saw the audience. The first row was reserved for family members. On the right side sat Sally Jackson, Paul Blofis, Tyson and Poseidon. (Estelle was the flower girl.) On the left side, my father, Fredrick, my stepmother, Erica, my paternal half-brothers, Matthew and Bobby, and my half-siblings Malcolm, Eric, Albert and Henrietta. (Athena and Alyssa were part of the ceremony.) The next 10 or so aisles were filled with gods, followed by demigods, then humans, and in the last row were Frank, Magnus Chase and his friends, as well as the Kanes and their fellow magicians. Since Blitzen would turn to stone if exposed to sunlight, he had an umbrella designed for the outdoor beach-side wedding.

Juniper was there without her boyfriend Grover, since he was the best man helping Percy to get ready. Thalia, Nico, Will and many other people I recognized were in the audience. Frank was the usher (a person who distributes wedding programs, greets guests, leads guests to their seats, and help with ceremony preparation.) Jason and Leo were all groomsmen, Piper, Calypso and Hazel were bridesmaids and much to everyone's shock, Alyssa was the maid of honor. Many people asked why I choose her as the maid of honor even though she had recently turned 12. The reason for this is, since Hera and many of the gods helped to plan the wedding (leaving Alyssa free from the colossal burden of what she would normally do), I gave her the title to make her feel honored and that I, as well as my other half-siblings, accept her for who she is. Eventually, the wedding started. The music was being performed by the Muses themselves. Now if you asked what music was being played, it varied since you heard a certain symphony. As for me? I heard Canon in D by Johann Pachalbel.

Athena went down the aisle first, looking neutral. She then took her place as Percy walked down the aisle, followed by Grover, then the groomsmen, and then the bridesmaids. Alyssa walked down the aisle, carrying a bouquet of blue roses in her hands. Estelle walked down the aisle, spreading blue flowers along the blue carpet. I walked up the aisle slowly and independently, savoring these moments.

I suppose I should tell you what became of those who willingly worked for the evil maiden and her judgement. Horatia was deemed guilty and received a rare and cruel punishment; having her spirit devoured by Cerberus. Hercules, who said he joined her because he had so much anger and rage in his heart from Hera's cruelty and the bad memories in his life, was stripped of his powers, killed, and was reincarnated so he could leave his past behind. Atlas was not only returned to his original punishment of holding up the sky, but also got daily whippings from Apollo and Artemis for a month. Koios was reimprisoned in Tartarus by Melinoe before she was forced to do Daedalus's punishment, which she really hated. Janus got out of his intended punishment of demotion to humanity by doing community service for three months. Keto and Phorycs were banished to the deepest trench in the ocean. Enyo was forced to end a war of her choice within a month (and no, I don't know which one). Eris was banished to some unknown realm. Phobos and Deimos stripped of their powers for a year and sentenced to try and bring peace to El Salvador. Prometheus had fled (possibly hiding in the mortal world).

Pasiphae was trapped in a mist created maze created by Hecate. Hebuca was returned to her original occupation of immortal dog owned by Hecate. Chrysaor fled to an unknown ocean, and Triton was assigned to find him and imprison him. The monsters and the giants Clytius and Antaeus were still dissolved. Every unwilling victim returned back to their normal lives. Alabaster was unfortunately dead. Many of Horatia's human workers (willing and unwilling) were also dead.

The music stopped as I reached the altar; a wooden table covered in white cloth decorated with seashells and some sort of holy book. Chiron, the marriage officiant, picked up the book and stood behind the altar. I must admit, Percy looked so handsome in his blue tuxedo.

"Dearly Beloved," he spoke. "We gathered here today in the sight of the Gods to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony." He then turned the page to read the processional wedding reading. "Matrimony is called holy, because this brave and fateful promise of a man and a woman, to love and honor and serve each other through thick and thin, looks beyond itself to more fateful promises still, and speaks mightily of what human life at its most human and most alive and most holy must always be. Every wedding is a dream, and every word that is spoken there means more than it says, and every gesture - the clasping of hands, the giving of rings - is rich with mystery. And so we hope with every bride and groom, that the love they bear one another, and the joy they take in one another, may help them grow in love for this whole world where their final joy lies."

After the reading, the marriage certificate was signed by me, Percy and some other witnesses. Chiron did not ask for objections, but instead, who supported us in our marriage. Athena smiled. We said our vows and exchanged rings. Then came for final declaration.

"Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, Hero of Olympus, Savior of Olympus and hero of the Great Prophecy, do you accept this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To love, to care for, to fight alongside in the face of adversity and to forsake all others as long as you both shall life?" Chiron asked.

"Of course. I've been to hell and back with this woman! Literally. After all that we've been though, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have as my wife." he answered.

I found myself blushing uncontrollably at his declaration as the audience said "Aw." Chiron then turned to me. "Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Hero of Olympus, and Savior of Olympus, do you accept this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"Then by the power invested in me, and the will and blessing of the gods, I pronounce you husband and wife." he decreed. I then grabbed his collar, and dragged him closer so I could kiss him. The audience cheered as our marriage ceremony ended. "I now present to you Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Chase."

We left the wedding aisle. Percy threw his garter, which was caught by an unknown son of Hephaestus, and the bouquet I threw was caught by Alyssa. The reception, oh gods... was really huge. Many of us had glasses of wine or fruit punch for the toast (I obliviously had the latter).

"I propose a toast; To Annabeth and Percy!" Alyssa said.

"To Annabeth and Percy!" everyone else repeated.

After a fun night of good food, dancing, and partying, the wedding reception was over. A week later, me and Percy moved out of our small apartment and the following week I told my boss that I was pregnant. He already knew. How in the world he knew the truth I would never know. Thankfully, he didn't fire me. On September 1st, a few days after my estimated due date, I went into labor. I'll spare you the disgusting details, but I will tell you this; it was immensely painful. I read books and articles on labor, heard testimonies. I was prepared, or so I thought. I was very glad to have Percy by my side. Although I was worried I Had it not been for him, I would have panicked and felt like I wasn't in control. I had to have made at least four different prayers to Hera, either aloud, or in my head. When the pain finally subsided, after being in labor for 13 hours, I had given birth to a baby girl at 9:37pm.

"What will you name her?" the nurse asked.

We agreed on her name weeks ago. I looked into my daughter's eyes. Just like the vision I had seen, they were grey. I smiled, turned to the nurse and answered, "Alyssa Grace Jackson."

A few days later, we left the hospital with Alyssa Grace. As I rocked her to sleep that night, I even thought I saw the tiniest black hair form as she fell asleep. That vision of the family picnic I saw would come true within a few years. I saw Elpis looking through the window. She waved her hand and scurried away. Elpis had never really left humanity, because she wasn't properly dismissed, but she did travel the world on her crusade of eternal hope. And all this, this bright future and the downfall of Horatia, all happened because I never gave in. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you mustn't ever give up hope, for love and hope are eternal.


End file.
